The Lonely Deck
by Ezra's Girl
Summary: Sarah's cousin comes to town, and there's a murderer on the loose. Just another typical day for the seven?


  
The Lonely Deck  
  
By: Ezra's Girl  
  
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I own, none of the seven. The gang all belong to MGM, Trilogy, etc. I am making no money off of this so please don't sue me! I don't have much anyway, I'm a poor pre-med student.   
  
Rating: PG 13 because of violence, but I don't think it's too graphic. I'm just paranoid I guess.   
  
  
Okay ya'll this is my first fanfic. I'm dying to know what ya'll think.   
  
  
The Lonely Deck  
***************************  
  
  
"Dammit. Where's Ezra?" Chris Larabee thought to himself. He looked over the wanted poster in his hands at the group of five men assembled before him. These were his partners and friends, the few people he trusted. Ezra was included in this group too. So Chris thought, but there were times when he got so angry at the sometimes difficult southerner. "He honestly does this on purpose to me." he concluded to himself. They were supposed to be meeting to discuss a possible problem, as if they didn't have enough. So now here they all were, except for Ezra, waiting to discuss something important, only they couldn't because they had to wait for someone who was probably too wrapped up in a poker game to pay attention to time and duty.  
  
"My apologies, gentlemen, I hope my tardiness hasn't been too much of an inconvenience. Pressing matters of course." Ezra drawled as he walked into the sheriff's office counting a sum of money.  
  
"You're late!" Chris answered back, "I said noon. You should have been here instead of playing poker."  
  
Ezra was shoving the money into his right boot looking unfazed as usual when he would incur the wrath of the dark clad gunslinger, "Well I couldn't just get up in the middle of a game now could I? I mean that would be both unprofessional and ungentlemanly, not to mention uncouth. Why I remember a time when..."  
  
"Enough." Chris cut him off, "We have business." He held up the wanted poster he was holding. The man looked young maybe even JD's age except this man had light hair and his face held none of the innocence that JD's still sometimes showed. His eyes were haunted and full of anger. "This is Grady Pierce, a new face to watch out for. He's wanted for murder. He's from the northeast, where he was some kind of genius working for the Union Army, but then he snapped sometime near the end of the war..."  
  
"And decided he'd rather be a murderer when he grew up?" Buck interrupted jokingly.  
  
Chris ignored him, he wanted to get this over with so they could get back to watching the town, "Anyway, he's on the loose and he's killed seventeen people, fourteen of 'em women. He's a real psycho though. Some of the people, he beat 'em before he killed 'em. There was a witness to one..."  
  
"Was?" Nathan interrupted.  
  
"Yeah was. A kid. Said Pierce was beating this one girl because she was being disobedient or something. Found the kid the next day, dead and beaten."  
  
"Real nice." Buck muttered feeling his anger rise at the thought.  
  
"Well," Chris continued, "his string of murders put him as coming in our direction, so we should be prepared. Any questions?"  
  
The room was silent  
  
"Good, then we'll keep normal day stuff, but two on patrols at night for a while. That's it"   
  
And with that, everybody went back to doing what they usually did. Chris and Vin took up their usual "posts" outside the sheriff's office in chairs leaned against the wall with their feet propped up. They looked very casual that way, but everyone knew that their sense were keen and alert. Buck, Ezra, and JD went off toward the saloon, ostensibly to keep drunken brawling to a minimum. Ezra grumbling something about "blackguard yankee miscreants" and Buck and JD good humoredly arguing about whatever the topic of argument for the day was. Josiah and Nathan headed over to the church to continue in their ongoing repairs. It wasn't that they doubted the danger that this man could present, but their little town was so small and out of the way, why would he come there? So life went on as usual. The next day would however provide something out of the ordinary to relieve them from the sometimes mundane occurrences of everyday life. The very next afternoon in fact, coinciding with the arrival of the stagecoach.  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
That stage pulled up to the small town of Four Corners. Kathleen Foley stepped out. She was a lovely southern lady, finely dressed for her surroundings but not ostentatiously. She possessed an air of confidence without superiority as she brushed at the dust on her fashionable clothes and straightened them on her graceful form. She looked around to acclimate herself with her new environment and then noticed the driver starting to unload her considerable luggage.  
  
"Be careful with my luggage please, Sir," she shouted up to him.  
  
"Yeah, yeah lady, we're careful," the man replied.  
  
By this time, Vin Tanner had walked up to the stagecoach curious about the appearance of such a fine lady in their town. At first he thought it was Maude Standish, Ezra's mother, but soon saw that that was not the case.  
  
Kathleen saw him and called out, "Excuse me sir! Might I inquire as to where the location of the nearest hotel would be in this," she looked around at the small town, "burgeoning metropolis?"   
  
Vin walked a little closer and answered, "The hotel's right across the street ma'am. Do you need some help with your bags?"  
  
"Why that would be charming of you Mr...."  
  
"Tanner, ma'am, you can call me Vin."  
  
"I'm Kathleen Foley. I certainly do appreciate your chivalrous assistance."  
  
"Glad to be of service, Miss Foley."  
  
He carried her baggage to the hotel and once he saw that she was fine in the hands of the clerk, headed back to his original destination- the saloon. Vin walked into the saloon, trying to hide the smile that crept up on his face. Ezra Standish, Buck Wilmington, and JD Dunne sat at their usual table playing poker and drinking whiskey. Chris Larabee sat alone in his usual mood at the bar with his whiskey. Vin strode up to the bar and Chris poured him a shot.   
  
Buck noticed Vin's countenance first. "Somebody's in a good mood t'day"  
  
This prompted the others to notice the tracker. Ezra continued for Buck, "Indeed Mr. Tanner, and what would be the cause of your obvious joviality today?"  
  
"I was just thinkin'. I' just saw what Ezra would be if he were a girl."  
  
"Oh, hell Vin, we all saw that, when we rescued Mrs. Travis from Wickestown." Buck replied.  
  
"Well there's this lady just came into town, real purty, dresses all fine like Ezra, and even uses all those five dollar words that nobody can understand." Vin said as he downs the offered shot of whiskey.  
  
"And where pray tell is this mysterious female deity?" Ezra asked, his interest clearly piqued.  
  
As if in response, Kathleen came into the saloon. The men turned to look at the rare sight of such a woman entering their mainly masculine haven. Ezra stood as if to go up to her, but it almost seemed as if he lacked the courage. She searched the room until her face recognized what she was looking for. To everyone's surprise she made her way over to Chris and covered his eyes with her hands whispering, "Guess who?"  
  
Out of reflex, he grabbed her hands and twisted her around binding her arms at her sides, all while turning around to get a look at his would-be assailant. She looked at him in shock and annoyance. Then as instantly, he released her hands, and picks her up into a hug. The men could only stare as this drama unfolded.  
  
Though Chris' temperament had changed from cautious to jovial (well, as jovial as Chris Larabee could be), Kathleen was still annoyed, "Dammit Chris, you scared me to death!"  
  
Chris genuinely looked apologetic as he stated, "I'm sorry, Katie, you surprised the hell out of me. I wasn't expecting to see you, of all people, here."  
  
By this time, all the guys had slowly, but surely, inched in closer with obvious curiosity. Kathleen couldn't help but notice the group of men staring at them, "Who are your friends, Chris?"  
  
Buck Wilmington, ever the ladies man, takes this as his cue, "Ma'am," in that soft voice he reserved for said ladies, "My name is Buck Wilmington. May I be the first to welcome you to our fair town? You sure do make it a nicer place. Why, the minute you walked into..."  
  
Ezra was suddenly unable to let Buck have the first shot at her. This was a woman of sophistication who needed someone like... well himself, not Buck, and interrupted gentlemanly or not, "He'll go on like that forever if you let him, my dear. As he has proven on many occasions. Please allow me the pleasure of introducing myself. Ezra Standish at your service, and you are?" he askedholding out his hand to her.  
  
She extended her hand, "I'm Kathleen Foley, Mr. Standish."  
  
He ceremoniously brought her hand to his lips, "Enchanted, Miss Foley."  
  
Chris, only half-heartedly suspicious of what Ezra's intentions might be, took it upon himself to make the rest of the introductions for the group knowing that Ezra and Buck could both of them "go on like that forever" if they wanted to. He indicated JD, "This is JD Dunne"  
  
"Ma'am," JD says simply touching the brim of his bowler and leaving the courting to Ezra and Buck.  
  
"Mr. Dunne." She nods pleasantly to him.  
  
"JD ma'am" he replies, unused to people addressing him so formally.  
  
Chris finally points out Vin, "And this is Vin Tanner."  
  
"Yes we met earlier," she said smiling at him, "out on the boulevard, where he gave me the honor of his assistance in connection to my luggage"  
  
Ezra smiled at this and noticing JD's perplexed face explained, "He helped her with her bags."  
  
"It's such a great pleasure to meet ya'll. However much as I'd like to remain in your company and socialize, I do need to talk to Chris for just a moment. That is if ya'll can spare him."  
  
Chris looked a little apprehensive at this. Things with Katie were never easy and he could feel that this private talk was going to turn into a thing. Nonetheless, as the men spoke their acquiescence, he guided her out the door, "Let's go outside."  
  
Kathleen turned back with a smile and nodded to them, "Gentlemen."  
  
Offered or not, Kathleen took Chris's arm as they started to amble down the street. They make an almost humorous pair as they walk, the hardened, dark clad, and somber gunslinger that was feared by many and the vivacious finely dressed woman next to him. He with the responsibility of the entire town on his shoulders, constantly had his eye on things. She with the responsibility of only herself, kept her mind on just that, but also looking curiously about the town to see what it was made of.  
  
Chris started talking first, which was uncommon for him, "So, Katie, what brings you to town?"  
  
"Well," she began, "I'm looking for a change of pace. I haven't been happy recently. Louisiana, and more specifically New Orleans, just is not the same anymore, and it breaks my heart to see Yankee soldiers patrolling the French Quarter. Chris you know I'm no ignorant slave-holder, but I am a Confederate, and the Yankees are making life horrible for everyone and I decided to leave before they had the occasion to do it to me. I won't lose everything that my father worked so hard for."  
  
"What happened to your parents?" Chris asked.  
  
"What happened to a lot of people- Father was killed in the war and Mother got so sick, her body just gave out. I was away when it happened and that used to tear at my heart, but I've moved on now, I really have," She hesitated here wanting to say more but not wanting to bring up the past.  
  
"Go on."  
  
"Well, I started thinking hard about where I could go. The North was out of the question for obvious reasons and the South was, as I said, becoming increasingly uncomfortable. Then I remembered Sarah's letters to me. She seemed so happy here. And when I would visit her- ya'll, it seemed like (except for the dust) the nicest place next to New Orleans. I know it's probably not the easiest life, but I've had my fair share of easy life. Your wife was my cousin and I loved her dearly. We were two peas in a pod back home you know, and so I thought if Sarah loved it so much, maybe I could find a new life for myself out here, like her. And here in particular because you're the closest thing to a relative I have left. But I also wanted to consult your feelings and if you'd rather I moved on, I'll understand. I'm sure there's enough space out here for everybody."  
  
"I don't know Katie, I've got a responsibility to this town and I don't know if I can split that with having to take care of you too."  
  
"Excuse me? Did I ask for your care?," she asked, her voice rising, "I think not. I came here, out of deference for your feelings to ask if it would pain you to have your dear wife's cousin here in this particular municipality, since I'm moving out West anyway and it would be nice to see you on occasion. I did not come to procure you as my nursemaid and watch over everything I do. I'm not deficient in funds as you well know and I came to settle down, maybe buy some land and build a domicile of some sort."  
  
"Never easy with her," he thought. Then to her he said, "Well it's a free country. I can't stop you from living wherever you want to."  
  
"This will be great! Just trust me, you'll love having me around and maybe in time we can ingratiate more color into your somewhat monotone wardrobe? I know I always thought you should wear more blue."  
  
Chris allowed a smile at that statement and knew things definitely would be a lot livelier with her around, "Let me introduce you to someone, Katie, there's a real nice lady that runs a newspaper that can help you get started. Plus, I think you'll like her."  
  
"Just so long as you know that the only person allowed to call me Katie is you and then only out of deference to my sainted cousin. Also, I want to know about your friends. You certainly have managed to attract a very rag-tag group of individuals."  
  
Chris smiled again "You haven't even met them all." he said and he explained the seven as they walked together over to the Clarion's office.  
  
***************************************************************  
  
After getting Kathleen settled in with Mary, Chris walked over to the saloon to get a drink before going out on his patrol that night. He was genuinely pleased to see her, despite the person she reminded him of. During her visits, she had proven a very kind woman and they had gotten to be friends rather quickly. He hoped to find some of the guys still at the saloon so as to explain to them who she was. Partly so they would know she was family and to look out for her, and partly because he didn't want them to get the wrong idea about the two of them. He was glad to find most of them still there. Vin was gone to get ready for the patrol he was taking tonight with Chris. Buck went up to him the moment he set foot in the saloon handing him a beer, "Who is that beautiful woman? And why was she happy to see your ugly face?"  
  
Chris smiled at Buck's sometimes one-tracked mind, "She's Sarah's cousin from down in New Orleans."  
  
"Yes," Ezra said as they sat down at his table, "I recognized that rather charming accent. She's obviously a lady of grace and sophistication. So what does she want with you, Chris?"  
  
"Well, Ezra," Chris explained, "I'm practically the only family she has left, and it seems and I quote 'the damn Yankees have taken over the entire city of New Orleans' or so she said to Mary, and she needs a new place to live. So, she's settling out here with the money left to her by her father. Wants a ranch or something, but I don't know what she's gonna do with a ranch. She only really knows city life. In any case she seems to be here for a while, so I wanted to tell ya'll to look out for her for a while and give her help if you think she needs it. Even though she'll never admit it."  
  
"Well don't you worry Chris," Buck said smiling, "I will definitely keep my eyes on her."  
  
"Don't smile at her like that she's my cousin." Chris said only half seriously.  
  
"Just tryin' to be friendly." Buck said still smiling.  
  
"You must admit Mr. Larabee," Ezra said, "she is indeed a most intriguing woman. I myself confess that I was quite overwhelmed by her apparent charms."  
  
"Yeah well," Chris said his voice trailing off.  
  
Vin came in looking for Chris to start their patrol. "Hey Chris, you ready?"  
  
"Comin' Vin," He answered as he stood up and downed the last of his beer.  
  
"So who was that woman?" Vin asked as they left.  
  
***************************************************************  
  
Later that evening, Kathleen was still at the Clarion, long after Chris had left, talking to Mary Travis like they'd been friends for years. She respected Mary's courage at staying on in town, through her husband's death. She found the woman pleasant and really just enjoyed her company. However, she was getting a little restless at being so quietly employed that she began contemplating going over to the saloon for a game of cards. Come to think of it, she wouldn't mind a drink either. Surely women weren't prohibited right? As she thought of a few places in New Orleans she used to frequent even with other women, she was still respected. Was it different out here? Would people think less of her? She cautiously broached the subject with Mary, "So, do you ever frequent the saloon?"  
  
"Well no not myself personally."  
  
"Are women not allowed?"  
  
"Well it's not illegal, but there aren't many women here in the first place..."  
  
"Well why don't we go and I'll buy you a drink."  
  
"Thank you but I don't really drink and I've got to get ready for Billy. He's coming home tomorrow from a visit with my father-in-law."  
  
"Oh yes I remember."  
  
"Well I think I might just go and see if someone wouldn't mind a game of chance with a woman."  
  
"Be careful."  
  
Kathleen stepped out of the Clarion office and could see and hear the saloon, alive with the energy of a Friday evening. Her heart quickened as she thought, "I'm going to have some real fun tonight, for the first time in a long while. It's still only ten o' clock after all. A noise made her jump. She looked around and found its source. JD was just coming out of the jailhouse. "JD" she called.  
  
He was a little confused at first, but then he recognized her and went over to her. "Evening, Miss. Foley"  
  
"And isn't it a fine one? I was wondering in which direction you were heading sir?"  
  
"Oh, I was just going over to the saloon, but if you need something..."  
  
"What I require is some information."  
  
"Okay"  
  
"In that saloon of which you were so recently speaking, is there any hopes that I might partake in a profitable game of chance?"  
  
"Well yeah Ezra's not on patrol tonight, so you could play with him if you want to lose some money."  
  
"So, Mr. Standish is adept at cards?  
  
"No, he's a great player."  
  
"I see," she said with a smile, "In that case I should like it very much if you would escort me to this saloon of yours. That is, if you wouldn't mind?"  
  
"No ma'am" JD replied and with that they took off toward the saloon."  
  
***************************************************************  
  
Not really to her surprise, the sight of Kathleen entering the saloon didn't really draw that much attention. Buck, of course, came over from observing Ezra's getting some poor cowboy's pay from him, to relieve JD of his duties concerning Kathleen.  
  
"How are you doing this evening, Miss Kathleen?"  
  
"I'm perfectly at ease, Mr. Wilmington, and yourself?"  
  
"I just got a whole lot better now that I see you."  
  
He was about to go on when she said, "Is Mr. Standish around? I was hoping to interest him in a game of chance."  
  
Ezra who had been engrossed in his game until Kathleen walked in, but now completely watched her interaction with Buck took the opportunity of the game's end to approach, "Did I hear something about a card game?"  
  
"There you are Mr. Standish, yes I'd like very much to play a few rounds of cards, if you wouldn't mind playing with a female."  
  
"Not at all my dear, come follow me and we shall commence." Ezra started to lead her to an empty table.  
  
"I'll be right there," and with that, surprised Buck and Ezra by getting a brandy at the bar before she would sit down.  
  
***************************************************************  
  
Many hours later, the saloon was substantially less noisy and in fact, it was empty save for Ezra, Buck, Kathleen, and Inez. Ezra and Kathleen were locked in battle. Buck had long since lost interest in poker, therefore had given up on Kathleen for the night and was trying to make some time with Inez. Ezra was astounded with the woman sitting in front of him. He had never seen such skill in a woman before, excepting his mother. Her skills had rivaled his own. At first when they played he had ensured that she win at least a few hands, but early on he realized the redundancy of that particular exercise. So now he sat in wonder of her, but cautious all the same lest she take all his money- for while he would cheat in her favor, would never think of disadvantageously cheating her. He was brought out of his contemplation by her voice.  
  
"I called sir," she said smiling.  
  
"Why of course, my apologies, Miss Foley. It would appear that I have a straight." Ezra said laying down his cards.  
  
"Well then I am so sorry, because I have a full house: queens over eight's." Kathleen replied likewise laying down her cards.  
  
"That would be another one for you, my dear. Fortune is indeed smiling upon you this fair evening. Shall we play another?"  
  
At this moment, Chris and Vin walked in from the patrol he was on and was not in the least surprised to see Kathleen there with Ezra playing cards. "I should have figured you two would have gotten together."  
  
"Why, Mr. Larabee," Ezra drawled, "you never told me that your dear cousin, is a most proficient card player and I am not adverse to some real competition."  
  
"I thoroughly enjoyed myself as well, Mr. Standish, but in regards to your offer of another game, I'm afraid I must decline as I am starting to feel the effects of an extensive journey and am becoming thoroughly fatigued. Please forgive me?"  
  
"I wouldn't think of discomforting you for one moment. Only please allow me to escort you to wherever it is that you plan on going to retire." Ezra said, getting up as she rose too and slipping his jacket back on.  
  
"Oh no indeed, it's only right across the street. I am perfectly fine on my own."  
  
Ezra walked over to her anyway and offering his arm to her he said, "I have no doubt of your assessment of your own abilities, but I would hardly be a gentleman if I allowed you to go unaccompanied out into the street." He didn't notice the smirks on the faces of his friends. They knew he placed a great importance on behaving as a gentleman, but they were rarely privy to him behaving in a courtly fashion. They found it amusing to say the least.   
  
Kathleen gave him her arm saying, "Very well then. I suppose it wouldn't do to upset your gentlemanly nature on the first day of my arrival in your town. Good evening all."   
  
The men straightened as she turned to them and Ezra realized what they were doing. As the pair left the saloon, he waved his arm behind his back as if he could silence them.  
  
When the two were out of earshot, the group laughed good heartedly.  
  
"Well senores, since it is just you left I think I will go upstairs now." Inez told them as she walked to the staircase.  
  
They all called their goodnights to her and they sat down at one of the tables. Buck poured out drinks for all of them, "Ezra is in way over his head."  
  
"Yeah," Chris agreed, "Ezra's finally met his match. He's gonna have to be careful or else he's gonna lose more than a poker game."  
  
"I was going to make a play for her and give 'ol Ez a run for his money. He is after all no match for 'el Buck', but now I think it'd be more fun to watch him trip over himself." Buck replied.  
  
"'Sides the fact that you'd feel a mite embarrassed if you couldn't understand what your girlfriend was sayin'." Vin piped in.  
  
"Aw, shut up Vin." Buck said, "But you're right though. Ezra's bad enough with them five dollar words, but how in the hell am I supposed to impress a woman like that?"  
  
"She ain't like that Buck." Chris stated, "She's about the nicest woman you'll ever meet."  
  
"I ain't sayin' she ain't sweet, but Buck here'll just stick to the girl's he can understand." was Buck's answer.  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
Ezra spoke first as they made their way down to the hotel, which wasn't really 'only right across the street', "I spent a lot of time in New Orleans myself, you know Miss. Foley. It's quite different out here."  
  
"Yes, I noticed that, Mr. Standish," she replied, "there is only one color out here- dust. But this town has many things going for it that New Orleans doesn't."  
  
"No Yankees for one?"  
  
"Indeed, I decided that it would be better to remember it the way I do know than stay and grow to dislike it. Do you miss it?"  
  
"Well, mother and I left before the war broke out and went to St. Louis. I remember liking to take walks along the river and in the French Quarter. New Orleans is a most entertaining city. It's a pity that it has changed. The west has significant beauty as well, however. One simply need know where to look in order to locate it."  
  
"I see. Well, I'll be sure to keep my eyes peeled." By this time they had reached the hotel. She turned to him and continued, "Would you mind sitting down with me for a moment?"  
  
"Not at all, my dear, are you unwell?  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
"Hey look ya'll." Buck called from the doorway of the saloon where he ended up after restlessly wandering around the saloon for the past few minutes. "He looks like JD when he first met Casey."  
  
They guys came over to peek out the door and indeed saw that across the street, in front of the hotel, were Ezra and Kathleen sitting on a bench talking. Ezra seemed to hang on her every word. They were sitting on a bench talking, despite her earlier protests of being tired.  
  
"He'll be moo-ing in a minute." Buck said as they went back to their drinks.  
  
Chris poured them each a shot. "Pretty quiet out tonight." he said.  
  
"Didn't see no sign of Pierce, though." Vin said.  
  
"Maybe the federal boys found him." Buck replied.  
  
Chris poured another shot, "I sure hope so. We don't need anymore crazies lurking around."  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
"I'm perfectly well, don't trouble yourself. It's only that there's something quite particular I would like to inquire of you"  
  
"Go on." Ezra urged. She cast her eyes downward at this in obvious discomfort, which prompted him to take her hand and squeeze it in support. He couldn't figure what she might have done to cause her such distress.  
  
At his show of comfort, she looked up and smiled. "I hope you don't think me rude, but I wanted to know about Chris. I don't know how much he told you about me, but I am Sarah's cousin. We were very close and after they married I got to be friends with Chris. But when I arrived in town astounded by his appearance. This is the first time I've seen him since the murder because at the time I was trying to get home to my mother who was gravely ill. He wrote me though and told me what had happened. He looks bad compared to the Chris I knew. Do you know of anything I can do for him?"  
  
"My relationship with Mr. Larabee is such that I am afraid that I will not be of much assistance. He can barely stand my company at times, much less confide in me. You should talk to Mr. Tanner or Mr. Wilmington. However, it is in my power to assure you that he is significantly improved in his entire character from the first time we met. I believe that he has found a purpose in leading our protection of this town." He opened his mouth to continue, but then stopped abruptly hoping she wouldn't notice. He silently cursed himself when he saw her look at him inquisitively. He knew better than to make a slip like that.   
  
"What were you going to say?" she asked with a twinkle in her eye.  
  
"Nothing, my dear." he said trying so hard to make his face look calm.  
  
"A gentleman never lies, much less to a lady." she reminded him.  
  
He sighed in resignation, which made her giggle. He tried to glare at her, unsuccessfully, and he continued, "Mind you this is just my own idle conjecture and is no way confirmed, but I believe, that is, I think there may be a slight possibility that..."  
  
"That Chris is enamored of Mary Travis?" she finished for him.  
  
He was speechless, which was unusual for him.  
  
She took this as an opportunity to proceed, "I think it is quite obvious, Mr. Standish. Obvious too that the feelings are reciprocated. It's too bad that neither of them know it. And as for your hesitation to tell me- my cousin was an angel. She would be glad for Chris to find someone to love again, even if he doesn't realize that yet. I think my cousin approves. I'm quite fond of Mary. She is a kind-hearted person and has already provided me with an abundance of help."  
  
"In what way?"  
  
"I'm looking for some land and she was good enough to point out to me a few plots that may prove to be interesting upon further investigation."  
  
"Yes, Mr. Larabee said something about your desire of erecting a ranch of some sort."  
  
"Well, more of a home really. I don't know much about ranching. I might perhaps take up horse breeding. It was my father's hobby and he taught me all he knew about it. Though he wasn't exactly an expert himself with us living in the city most of the time. I don't know. Well, I've kept you longer than I intended. I apologize."  
  
"No need Miss. Foley."  
  
"Well I assume I'll see you sometime tomorrow," she looked at her watch, "today I mean."  
  
"How right you are. Might I entice you to accompany me for dinner this evening? We have a fine restaurant in town, despite the fact that no food in the world can rival the thoroughly delectable cuisine of your native New Orleans."  
  
"It would be a pleasure, sir."  
  
"The pleasure and honor are entirely mine, I assure you. I'll call on you around seven o'clock?"  
  
"That's fine."  
  
"Miss Foley," he said and helped her up from her seat and kissed her hand goodbye.   
  
She went into the hotel and he turned to go back to his room.  
  
"Mr. Standish!"  
  
"Yes, Miss. Foley?"  
  
"You're wrong you know. About Chris, I mean."  
  
He looked at her waiting for her to explain further.  
  
"I know that he holds you in high esteem. He trusts you. Even if he hadn't told me, I know he wouldn't work with you if he didn't. I don't know about your past except that Chris told me you have a hard time letting people get close to you. I'd say your past is over and maybe you should let it be. I don't think these gentlemen will disappoint."   
  
She turned and walked into the hotel leaving Ezra to ponder this last statement. He walked back to the saloon. It was simply habit for him not to let people into his heart. It was what he did. She was right of course. He knew that the men were his friends and they could be trusted. He knew that they had formed an odd form of family unit. This was one of the reasons he hesitated going through the saloon to get to his room. He remembered his friends' teasing as he left with Kathleen. But that was also the reason that he did go in through the front. He liked having friends that he could tease and be teased with. Also if he tried sneaking in the back, he'd probably get shot and made fun of all the worse.  
  
The minute he walked into the saloon, he heard it. A distinct moo-ing was coming from the table where his compatriots sat. He would have laughed at the amiable teasing, but it was much more entertaining to take offense. "I suppose, sirs, you have nothing better to do than ridicule a man for being a gentleman and escorting a lady so that no harm befalls her on her way to her hotel?"  
  
"Oh Ezra, that was more than bein' a gentleman! You looked like a lost little puppy dog." Buck cried.  
  
"Well even if I looked like a puppy dog, I still looked better than you can manage on a good day!" Ezra responded, "might this mockery be evidence of residual envy over the occurrence that a lady seems to favor my society more than yours?"  
  
Buck tried not to look confused as he tried to puzzle out what Ezra had just said. Ezra was hysterical on the inside, he'd laid it on extra thick just to unnerve the man. It was Chris that explained, "He thinks she likes him better."  
  
"You must be drunk Ezra, she just wanted to play cards with you. She needs someone more experienced in the arts of attracting a woman."  
  
"Would that be your animal maggotism, to quote our young Mr. Dunne?" Ezra replied.  
  
"Magnetism, magnetism! And you know I have no control over that!" Buck said.  
  
"Ya'll are all full of it," Vin remarked to them.  
  
"There you go Vin." Chris agreed.  
  
The men stayed in the saloon for a little while longer not really talking- just relaxing and unwinding in each other's company. Finally they got up and left for their respective rooms (or in Vin's case, his wagon) and the remainder of the night passed quietly away in the small town.  
  
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Kathleen rose early, as she usually did, and readied herself for the day. She put on something much more casual than what she wore yesterday as she expected her horse to be arriving this morning. "She better be here on time too, after all that money." she thought. But it was worth it to her because she was anxious to go exploring today and pick out the land she wanted. After she finished dressing, she packed her saddlebag with the map that Mary gave her, and various things she thought she might need. Then, she went outside to wait for arrival of her horse.  
  
She had been sitting outside her hotel for nearly an hour. She looked at her watch. Seven o'clock. She had seen only a few people. "I know it's early people, but ya'll are missing a beautiful morning" she said aloud but to herself.  
  
"It is a beautiful morning. Another reminder of God's presence in every day life." said a man's voice from behind her.  
  
She gasped as she had not noticed anyone approach her. He was a big man, older but not elderly, "You startled me, sir."  
  
"I apologize. You must be Miss. Foley. I'm Josiah Sanchez. Chris told me about you yesterday." he told her.  
  
"And myself about you, sir. I must say I have been anxious to make your acquaintance. I would love to help you in your endeavor to restore the church in any way within my means. The most useful would probably be in the monetary form."  
  
"Well, thank you ma'am. Not many people want to give away money with no tangible reward in return."  
  
"Well it's the least I can do. I've been very blessed in my life. In fact, that's the reason I'm out here this morning. One of my blessings should be arriving any moment now."  
  
"You have some kind of deal worked out with God?"  
  
"No," she laughed, "with a trustworthy groom. He's bringing my horse, Magnolia, to me. I am quite anxious to go riding."  
  
They continued to talk pleasantly for a while about many things. The town became more and more alive with the passage of time. Finally after about a half an hour, Magnolia arrived.  
  
Katie jumped up, "There she is Mr. Sanchez. You must come and meet her. She is the absolute sweetest creature." They walked over to the horse, "Over here young man." she called to the groom.  
  
She and Josiah inspected the horse together. She was a beautiful black mare. The horse whinnied happily at the sight of her mistress. When Kathleen was assured that there was no harm to the horse, she gave the groom another generous tip telling him, "You were late, but thank you just the same."  
  
"That is a fine horse indeed, ma'am." Josiah said as they walked to the livery.  
  
"I love her to death. Spoil her too."  
  
"Well," Josiah said at the entrance of the livery, "I'll leave you to your ride, but be careful and I wouldn't go to far out, it's real easy to get lost around here."  
  
"Thank you, good day Mr. Sanchez." she said. She was grateful he left. For a minute she'd thought he was going to insist on accompanying her. Not that he was unpleasant company, but there were times for company and times for solitude. She contemplated this for a moment and then readied herself and Magnolia for their excursion. She wasn't going to get lost. Hell, she wasn't even going that far.  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
It was almost noon when JD hurried out of the telegraph office and over to the saloon. He hoped most of the gang was going to be there. "Chris isn't going to like this," he thought to himself. He stepped through the batwing doors stopping long enough to let his eyes adjust to the light difference before scanning the room for his friends. He shouldn't have bothered. They were sitting where they always were. "Hey fellas," he began giving the telegram to Chris, "I'm afraid I have some bad news. There was a murder in Eagle Bend last night. Guess who the suspect is."  
  
"Would that be the Mr. Pierce we've heard such wonderful things about?" Ezra asked.  
  
"Yeah." Chris answered, "Dammit."  
  
"Great, if he is trying to get to Mexico he'll probably come close by here." Nathan said.  
  
Vin stood up, "I'll go take a look around."  
  
"Not alone," Chris said to the tracker, "we don't know how dangerous this Pierce is."  
  
"Well he's a murderer, Mr. Larabee, so I'm sure he'll be a lamb." Ezra drawled sarcastically.  
  
"I'll go with you, Vin." Josiah said, interrupting the battle that happened too often between the gambler and the leader before it could go any further.  
  
"Me too." added Nathan.  
  
"All right, that's good. Be careful. Buck, you and JD ride out to the ranches and warn them in case they want to come and stay in town." Chris stated and then turned to Ezra with one of those evil smiles he could manage so easily, "Ezra, you can stay in town with me. Good?"  
  
"I always enjoy the pleasure of your company Mr. Larabee." said Ezra calmly, though annoyed with himself for inwardly cringing when the dark-clad man addressed him.  
  
The men rose and left the saloon to perform their assigned tasks.  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
Kathleen was lost. She didn't know how it happened, she had a map, but here it was. She was completely and totally lost. To make matters worse, the entire landscape looked identical, no matter in which direction she gazed so she entertained no hope of finding her way. She wondered what she should do. She felt like an idiot. Hadn't she just told Chris that she could take care of herself? "Okay, calm down Kathleen." she thought to herself, "Of course they'll come look for you when they realize you're missing. Josiah and Mary both knew your plans. It's simply a matter of waiting. I hope they miss me before seven o'clock when Ezra comes for me. Will they come if it's dark? Sure they will." She looked around again and decided to ride around a bit to see if anything looked remotely familiar.  
  
"Come on, Mag's," she said to her horse, "let's go see if we can find our way home."  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
Chris and Ezra were sitting outside the jail, but stood when Mary Travis walked up. "Hello gentlemen. Have you seen Kathleen around? I wanted to ask her how things went this morning." she said to them.  
  
"What things, Mary? I haven't seen her all day." Chris said a knot starting to form in his stomach. He had a bad feeling about this.  
  
"Oh don't worry, she just went out to look at some of the properties I told her about yesterday. She's really eager to get started. Her horse was arriving today and she was going to ride out this morning and see which she liked best." Mary answered.  
  
"Alone?" Chris and Ezra replied together, concern plainly etched on their faces.  
  
Mary was confused at this, "Yes, alone. The plots aren't that far out from town. She'll be fine. What's the matter?"  
  
Chris explained the situation with Pierce and the fact that he might be close by.  
  
Mary gasped at this, "Oh no. I'm so sorry Chris. If I'd known, I never would have-- I mean I would have said something."  
  
"It's not your fault Mrs. Travis." Ezra said soothingly.  
  
"We have to do something." Chris stated.  
  
"Obviously Mr. Larabee. What would you suggest?" was Ezra's reply.  
  
"I'd suggest you watch your mouth." snapped Chris, but then he regretted it. He knew the gambler didn't mean anything by it. Why did the gambler insist on baiting him like that? This was something that had to be worked on. If only he could literally knock that particular bit of sense into the stubborn man. That's what he was good at, not this emotional crap. Maybe Katie could help somehow; Ezra was obviously taken with her. Chris shook his head and focused on the situation at hand.  
  
"My apologies, sir. It is most unlike me not to keep my emotions under control. Account it to the shock of the dangerous situation in which your cousin has placed herself. Shall we go locate her?"  
  
Chris was amazed, and it took a lot to shock Chris Larabee. Was the gambler actually admitting to concern for someone else? "Katie's gotten farther with him in one night than the six of us put together. And we've had a couple of years." he thought to himself. Then he started to get his plan together, "Yeah Ezra we have to go look for her. Mary I need you to tell me exactly which places she was going to go look at and then be on the lookout for any of the guys to come in. Buck and JD'll probably be first. Tell them what's going on and then send 'em back out."  
  
"Perhaps we should arrange to converge somewhere so as to coordinate our efforts?" Ezra suggested.  
  
"Tell 'em we'll all meet up at the crossroads at around 4 o' clock. That should give 'em plenty of time to look around first." Chris said.  
  
"All right Chris. I can do that." Mary told him.  
  
They walked over to the livery to prepare the horses while Mary told them everything she knew about where Kathleen might have gone. A few minutes later, the men rode out of town trailed by a long cloud of dust.  
  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
"Things are getting desperate." he thought to himself. "I might have even let her go, but she wouldn't shut up. It was her own fault. I told her what would happen and she didn't listen. Not my fault. Bad things happen when you don't listen. When you don't listen you get punished. Hell, that's one of the first things every child is taught- to listen and do what you're told. A child will work better. Children listen. That's why it happened that way. It wasn't my fault. It wasn't my fault at all."  
  
These were the idle musings of Grady Pierce as he traveled cautiously up the road. He was thinking about the day before when he was in that town. "What was it called? Eagle something." He couldn't remember. It was then that he decided that he would need insurance. He would take a hostage to make sure he got to Mexico. He'd found the perfect one. A young lady maybe 20 or so walking alone in the street. No one would want any harm to come to such a creature. She would be perfect. Then he made his way over to her and grabbed her. He had his hand over her mouth and told her not to make a sound or he would kill her. He told her this and asked her if she understood. Then he moved his hand and like an idiot she started screaming. He kept telling her to stop but she wouldn't. "I told you to behave didn't I?" he'd said, "I'll need to teach you a lesson!" Then when he heard the people, he knew that there was nothing he could do, he'd killed her quickly and got away as fast as he could.  
  
"Well," he thought, "There's another town coming up soon. I'll wait for dark and go find a child. A child will work better. Children listen. That's one of the first things every child is taught- to listen and do what they're told." He smiled as he thought of Mexico and freedom.  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
Chris and Ezra had been everywhere Mary had said, and had seen no trace of Kathleen.  
  
"You know what I'd bet Ezra?"  
  
"Do you mean if you were a worthless lazy gambler" Ezra quipped.  
  
Chris shot Ezra an angry glare.  
  
"Pray tell Mr. Larabee." Ezra said with mock-humilty over a dimpled smirk  
  
"I'd bet that she's in town right now and that when we tell her we've been looking for her all afternoon, she laugh at us."  
  
"She's quite an extraordinary lady."  
  
"That she is, Ezra."  
  
"As a point of honor, I feel it right to tell you that I invited her to partake the evening meal with me this evening and she accepted."  
  
"Ezra, she's my cousin, not my daughter. I care about her, but she certainly isn't looking to me for approval."  
  
"I understand. It's only that she seemed attached to you and that made me want to tell you that my intentions are honorable."  
  
"I know they are Ezra. Like it or not you are a pretty okay person now and there's not much you can do about it."  
  
Ezra was taken aback at that and rather than deal with it pointed out to Chris that it was time to head over and meet the group. Chris smiled at the gambler's avoidance of the issue, but decided to let it go and they rode of to meet with the rest of their friends.  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
Kathleen was feeling pretty pleased with herself. She had found that crossroad she passed on her way out. "Look at this, Magnolia. I have found our way." She got quickly annoyed again. Unfortunately the roads were not marked. "Haven't they ever heard of road signs out here?" She couldn't remember which road led to Four Corners. "Well at least I'm not quite so alienated now. Someone's bound to pass by, hopefully a good samaritan, and they'll tell me which way to go. Either that or Chris or somebody will find me since I'm out in the open now. I just have to wait. Right Mag's?"   
  
It was then that she fully took in her surroundings. There was a cluster of large boulders of to the side of the road. If she could climb up on one of them would she be able to see the town? It would certainly by an undignified business, trying to get up there, but it would be worth it if it would enable her to get home without having to be rescued.  
  
"Damn!" She had reached the top of the highest boulder with surprising ease, but couldn't make out anything resembling the town. Oh well, so much for that idea. It was a rather pretty view though. Since she had to be stuck there anyway, and the weather wasn't hot enough to make her seek shade she decided to sit there for a while.  
  
***********************************************************************  
He saw her, but still wanted to go the easy route and take a child. As he approached her though, he started to find her more and more appealing. First, and most important, she had a horse. If he was planning on getting anywhere, he would definitely need a horse. Second, she was alone. No one would miss her until he was long gone. Third, she looked like a city girl, so she would probably just faint when he pulled his knife on her and then he could easily drag her with him anywhere. Finally, she looked rich. If things went bad, he could count on family to barter with. He drew his knife, but kept it behind his back.  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
On their way back to the crossroads, Ezra and Chris met up with Vin, Nathan and Josiah. They explained the situation with Kathleen, but none of them had seen her, so they proceeded to the designated meeting place. They rode on and finally were able to see the trademark boulders that sat to one side of the crossroads, when Nathan spoke, "There's somebody over yonder."  
  
Vin pulled out his spyglass and focused on the large rocks, "Yeah it looks like her to me. She's just sittin' there. Don't look hurt though."  
  
"Lemme see that Vin?" Chris asked. He wanted to be satisfied that it was indeed her and sighed in relief when he saw that it was. He was about to give the thing back to Vin when something caught his eye. He looked back into the glass. His heart stopped; he swore it did when he saw the figure approaching her. "Shit!" he swore and then whispered to himself "No no no no no no no no no."  
  
"What is it Chris?" Vin asked.  
  
"It's Pierce. No Katie, turn around. She doesn't see him. It looks like he's got something behind his back. Come on guys we gotta help her."  
  
Chris saw Ezra pull his gun and shouted over the noise of the horses, "No don't fire. If he doesn't see us it might scare him and then he might hurt her." They raced toward her, each of the men fearing they would be too late. Chris was trying to get her attention by waving his arms. They were going as fast as their horses would allow, but it seemed like it was taking an eternity to reach her.  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
She saw the riders coming at her. One was waving like an idiot and it looked like they were going too fast. Then she recognized the dark figure of Chris. He was the one waving. "Okay Chris, yeah hi, I see you." She waved to them in response. "Where's the fire Chris? I'm not going anywhere."  
  
"Wanna bet?" a voice asked her, grabbing her from behind and bringing a knife to her throat. It was then that he saw the men coming toward them. His first instinct was to cut his losses, and run but then his sense of survival kicked in and he quickly got them both onto her horse. The he turned the horse to face the charging group of men. He signaled that they should stop and emphasized the knife he now held to her neck.  
  
Chris motioned for his group to stop. They were still a good seventy-five feet away. "Let her go." he shouted to the criminal.  
  
"Nah I don't think so. I'm gonna need her help for a little while." Pierce responded.  
  
Ezra's emerald eyes blazed with fury and his hand unconsciously moved to his holster, but Pierce didn't miss a thing, "Keep your hands where I can see them. Do that again Mister, and I'll send you back a little piece of her."  
  
"Only a Yankee coward would hide behind a woman." Ezra shouted back.  
  
"Another word and I'll slit this girl's throat." he threatened and to prove it he pushed the knife further into her neck, causing her to gasp.  
  
"Ouch, not so hard dammit!" she yelled at him.  
  
"Keep quiet Ezra." Chris snapped.  
  
"Yeah," Nathan added, "don't give him an excuse to hurt her. Why don't you try talking to him, Josiah? You're usually pretty good at these things."  
  
Josiah thought for a minute, then shouted to Pierce, "Listen, Brother, nothing good will happen if you hurt this young lady. Why don't you let her go and then we can help you?"  
  
"I'm nobody's brother, least of all yours. You want her back safe, then you let us go. When I don't need her anymore, I might send her back home. Now I want all of you to turn around and go back where you came from. If you follow me, I'll cut her into pieces so small, you'll need a microscope to find her."  
  
"What's a microscope?" Vin asked quietly.  
  
"Lets you see things that you couldn't see with the naked eye." Ezra explained and then addressing himself to Pierce, "If you so much as tear her dress, I'll rip your throat out."  
  
Pierce moved the knife as if trying to come to a decision, then cut off a lock of her long hair and replaced the knife to her neck.  
  
"That's my hair! How dare you" she yelled again.  
  
"Next time, Mister, it'll hurt a whole lot more." he called out to the men.  
  
"Ezra shut up or go home." Chris said to the southerner, in one of his intimidating voices. Though, in a way he was grateful to Ezra because keeping the gambler's emotions in check forced him to check his too. Inside himself though, he was seething. This was personal now. He'd failed to save Sarah, he'd be damned if he let her cousin die at his hands too. "Whaddya think Vin?" he asked the tracker.  
  
"I think he'll be easy trackin'. Let him go and we can take him during the night. That's her best chance. He'll kill her if we go in after her right now."  
  
"Yeah you're right." Chris said sadly, "Come on guys let's go."  
  
Josiah called out to the outlaw, "Okay we're going, remember you said you would send her back." he paused trying to think of something hopeful to say to Kathleen, "God go with you Miss Foley"  
  
"You're leaving me here?" she cried out to them not believing what was happening.  
  
"It'll be okay Katie." Chris called turning his back to her. He didn't want to see her face with her thinking they were abandoning her.  
  
"We can't just leave her here, at the mercy of this miscreant." Ezra protested, his heart breaking at the petrified sound of her voice.  
  
"You heard me, Ezra." Vin said to him, "They won't get far and he has to sleep sometime."  
  
Ezra turned reluctantly to follow with the men, but, trusting his horse to keep up with the rest, kept his head turned so he could still see her. How had this happened. He had known the woman barely two days and now he was terrified at the prospect of never seeing her again or never hearing her voice. That voice had driven him crazy. He'd had to force himself to breathe when she laughed, it was like music. He was furious with himself at not being able to protect her from that villain. How had she gotten so close to him so fast? He only hoped that he would get the chance to bring her a lot closer.  
  
The men rode off remarkably slower than when they arrived, each of them hating to have to leave her there. Josiah prayed to God that the last thing Kathleen had said wouldn't be the last they'd ever hear from her. He looked at Chris and Ezra who were silently riding. She was Chris' cousin and it seemed Ezra was kind of sweet on her. He knew the rage these two men were capable of, hell it was the same with the whole team, and he didn't want to see it.  
  
*****************************************************  
  
Grady Pierce had disappeared into the woods several minutes ago. He was very pleased with the way things were going. Now he would get to Mexico. If only this girl would stop struggling so much. "Quit your squirming this minute." he growled at her.  
  
Kathleen stopped, but said nothing. She couldn't believe what was happening. Why hadn't Chris just shot this villain? Then she chastised herself. "He would have if he could have. He's probably following us right now. You'll be fine, Kathleen" she thought to herself. Then she started to think about Ezra. She knew he had to have had a spotted past. It must be something too, if Chris won't tell me. It didn't matter though because that mystery just made him all the more irresistible. He was very charming. Gallantry was nothing new to her. New Orleans was full of gentlemen, but this man was different. Her heart had pounded when he brought her hand to his lips. She wondered if he was worried about her.   
  
She felt the man's hand loosen his grip on her. She didn't think for a moment. She moved her head slightly and bit down on the hand that held the knife to her throat.   
  
"Dammit." he cursed as he dropped the knife.  
  
She reacted instantly jumping off the horse, cursing herself as she did, "You should have pushed him off the horse, idiot!" She ran with all her might, back the way that they had come.  
  
He jumped off the horse and gave chase. She would have to be taught a lesson for this one.  
  
***************************************************************  
  
Buck could tell something was wrong, the minute he and JD rode up to the group at the crossroads. He could tell because he could tell what Ezra was feeling. He could see the absolute rage plainly written on the usually controlled features. "This is going to be bad." he thought. Then he remembered why he and JD came out there, and it dawned on him. "He's got Miss. Kathleen?" he said questioningly.  
  
"Yeah Buck." Nathan said, "We were waiting on you and JD to get here and we're goin' after 'em."  
  
"We know where he's headin'?" JD asked.  
  
"He went into the woods over there," Vin answered pointing," and he said he was aimin' to get to Mexico."  
  
"He said he would let her go once he got there." Josiah added.  
  
"He said he might." Chris snapped, "Now are we done chatting? Or did ya'll want to wait until morning to go after them?"   
  
"Relax Chris. We had to let 'em get a little ahead anyway." Vin said to him.  
  
"Of course, Mr. Tanner," Ezra said, "but now that we are all assembled, perhaps, we can embark on our pursuit."  
  
"Well if you're sayin' can we go, then yeah." Vin replied.  
  
"Let's go then." Chris said getting up.  
  
The men mounted their horses and took off in chase of Kathleen and her captor.  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
It had happened when Kathleen had turned around to see if she'd outrun him. She didn't see him anywhere. "Thank goodness!" she said. Then she turned back towards the way they had come and something hit her right in the head. She blinked her eyes to try and focus, but she couldn't fight the darkness overcoming her senses.  
  
When she came around it was getting rather dark. She couldn't move and then realized that she'd been tied to a tree her back facing outward. She moaned at the pain in her head and was trying to imagine how big a lump would have to be to cause such pain when she saw her captor coming toward her. He carried his belt. She swallowed hard as she realized what that probably meant.  
  
"I'm glad you're awake." he told her, "It seems I have to teach you a lesson about respect. You see I believe in firm discipline. Now, I have all power over you. That means I'm superior and you're inferior. As an inferior, you must show respect to me. That means you don't bite me and you don't run away. Now in punishment for your bad behavior, you will receive fifteen lashings. Do you understand?"  
  
Kathleen was scared. Not for the beating it appeared she was about to receive, but because of this man's whole demeanor. He spoke as if he were addressing a child. He seemed detached from himself, as if he where watching this from someone else's point of view. She realized that he was not right in the head. In fact, the man was clearly and absolutely insane. That scared her and for the first time, she prepared herself for the possibility that she might not make it.  
  
"Do you understand?" he shouted.  
  
"Yes." she said quietly, wondering how much this was going to hurt.  
  
"You will count," he commanded, "starting now."  
  
"One." she said squeezing her eyes shut.  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
It was completely dark by the time they caught up with Pierce. Chris quickly surveyed the situation. First he found Katie. Pierce had her tied to a tree, but he could see her face around the side of it. Her head was bent down. Chris hoped she had just fallen asleep. Then he saw Pierce sitting by a small fire holding a gun. The men regrouped to come up with a plan. "What we need is a distraction. Then we can get Katie outta the way and take Pierce down." Chris whispered to them.  
  
"It's gonna have to be Buck or JD, unless you wanna risk him recognizin' one of us." Vin whispered back.  
  
"So what can we use as a diversion?" Nathan asked.  
  
The men let their gazes wander as they tried to think of a logical distraction. Ezra absentmindedly took a sip from his ever-present flask. Chris looked at this and smiled as he grabbed the thing, ignoring the southerner's look of surprise. He handed it to Buck saying, "You two get drunk quick."  
  
Buck smiled in recognition of the plan and poured some of the alcohol on his and JD's clothes. Then they drank the last of it, swishing it around in their mouths before swallowing it.   
  
"Now be quiet and circle around to come in on the other side of his camp, so we can get in and get her out." Chris said looking back toward the camp. She still hadn't moved. "Be careful, guys."  
  
Buck winked, but it was hard to tell in the dark so he and JD left their horses and began to quietly make their way around to the other side of the camp.  
  
"Now," Chris began, "who's gonna go get her. I don't think it should be you Vin. We might need your rifle to take him out if something goes wrong."  
  
"Okay Chris." Vin replied surveying the landscape and finally nodding to small elevation near a big tree about 20 feet away, "I got my spot, right over there."  
  
"Good Vin. Be careful." Chris said as the tracker moved to take his place.  
  
"May I offer my services in going to retrieve your cousin, Mr. Larabee?" Ezra asked the leader.  
  
Chris thought a moment. He'd planned on going himself, but then he thought that it might be better if Ezra went. "Ez could keep her safe just as well. And if anything went wrong, I'd be free to step in without worryin'." He thought to himself. "Okay Ezra," he said finally, "you go in and get her. Get her out of there and just ride away. Head straight back to town. If she's hurt, take Nathan with you and we'll meet up with you as soon as we can. Josiah, you and me'll give 'em cover if they need it. Right?"  
  
They all agreed and Ezra and Nathan went to prepare their horses for a quick getaway. Then they settled in to wait for the diversion to occur.  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
Buck and JD stumbled into the camp singing. When he saw what Pierce did to Kathleen, his blood boiled, but he continued not skipping a beat trying to give JD an extra minute to focus. Poor kid, stuff like this still shocked him. Buck wished it still shocked him. "Hey Mister, ya...yo...you you got a drink for me?" Buck slurred.  
  
It took a minute for JD to recover from what he saw. He almost got sick. He wondered how a man could come to do something like that to a lady. He looked away from the bloodied belt at her feet. He shook his head to get clear and focus. They had to get her out of there. "Jus...just a little drink?" he echoed.  
  
Pierce remained silent.  
  
JD stumbled over to the man and clapped him on the back. "Oh that's not very sociable, friend." JD insisted, before letting his feet give out and drag them both down to the ground.  
  
"That was rude, JD, you knocked over our new friend." Buck said. He looked over, but Kathleen was still there so he continued, "Let me help you up, amigo." he reached out but let himself lose his balance and fell on top of him.  
  
Pierce glared at the unwelcome intruders and looked at his prisoner before turning to address them, "Get out of here."  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
Ezra made his way to Kathleen still trying to be quiet even under Buck and JD's cover. He could see that she was still sleeping, despite the noise from Buck and JD "She must have been exhausted to sleep through that." he thought. But then a different thought popped into his head, "It's possible that she isn't sleeping." He pushed that thought out of his head. He had only a few feet left to cover.   
  
Then he was there. He stood up, hiding behind the tree she was tied to and gently spoke to her, "Miss Foley, I don't mean to inconvenience you, dear, but if you could manage to wake yourself, I could 'effect your emancipation' now." He smiled at quoting himself, but the smile faded when she didn't stir. He checked to make sure she was still breathing. "The bastard rendered you unconscious, I see." he whispered, glancing hatefully to the criminal. He cut the ropes at her feet and waist, and then moved to support her limp form as her cut the final rope. He pulled her around and almost dropped her when his hand encountered the gooey moisture on her back. He looked and felt his stomach turn at what he saw. Only his desire to remove her from this situation kept him from losing control entirely and going immediately to the man and throttling him. He picked her up carefully trying to touch as little of her fragile back as possible and started creeping back out of there.   
  
***********************************************************************  
  
The first thing that Chris noticed was that she apparently had to be carried back. Dammit. What the hell did he do to her that she couldn't walk back. He met Ezra as soon as they came by, "Is she okay?"  
  
"She'll be fine." Ezra explained, "she's unconscious, but she's breathing steady. Mr. Jackson, you might want to take a look to ensure she can travel."  
  
"Why did she faint?" Chris wondered aloud.  
  
"She suffered a trauma to her back, which I believe to be the cause of her incapacitation." Ezra answered.  
  
"Do you mean..." Chris' voice trailed off. He couldn't finish the question he wanted to ask. He didn't need to. The look Ezra gave him was answer enough. "You and Nathan get her back to town. Now."  
  
Ezra merely nodded when he realized that Chris' tone of voice had slipped into its menacing form. He and Nathan made their way back to their horses and back to town.  
  
Chris looked to Josiah, "You ready?" he asked.  
  
Josiah looked back, "Are you?"  
  
"What's that?" Chris said. He'd seen Vin waving to them but still trying to keep his place hidden. Now that he looked he saw that Vin was pointing to the camp. What the hell?  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
"I think he said to leave, boys" a gruff voice said from the woods.  
  
The three men in a pile on the ground looked up, but Pierce spoke, "Derek?"  
  
In response, five men came out from the shadows of the woods. All of them had the same light hair as Grady and for the most part, they had the same features- with one exception. These guys were huge. All of them six feet tall at least. Buck groaned and looked over to Kathleen. She was gone. At least that was something. Now all he had to do was get he and JD out of this situation. Easier said than done.  
  
"Hey little brother, good thing we came looking for you. You look like you could use some help." the one he'd called Derek said.  
  
"Nah," Grady replied, "just a couple of drunks, but look at what..." His face fell. "Where the hell did she go?" he growled. He scanned the area, but seeing no sign of Kathleen, he turned to Buck and JD, "Who are you two?"  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
"Oooh shit. Looks like the odds doubled- for them." Chris said.   
  
"This Grady must be the runt of the litter. We better get in there and give 'em a hand." Josiah replied.  
  
"Yeah. If things get dicey though, I hope Vin can take a couple of them out. Maybe Ezra and Nathan should have stayed."  
  
They stepped out of the shadows, guns drawn to help their friends. "Mind if we join the party?" Chris called out.  
  
Derek pulled his gun, and Chris fired a shot over his head; but he kept on for his gun. Chris shot him in the arm. Derek rushed Buck and JD seemingly unfazed by his injured arm. Then chaos broke out. The Pierce's came forward to help their brother. Chris and Josiah holstered their weapons and joined in the fight as well. Vin likewise came down from his position to help, since he wouldn't be able to get a good shot in anyway. Josiah was an asset. He was at least on the same level as the other guys. He concentrated on one at a time, but kept an eye out for his "brothers" in case they needed help.   
  
The fight went on for almost ten minutes. The Pierces didn't want to go down, but the team wasn't about to give up. In the end it was their stamina that won it for them. The casualties were minor but unfortunately many. Josiah, not astonishingly, fared the best with only a busted lip and a few places that would be bruised in the morning. Among the others were more busted lips, bruises too numerous to count and a couple of black eyes. JD had the worst of the injuries- a few broken ribs. This normally would have been a source of pride for the young man, a sign of bravery in his mind. Much to his chagrin however, he'd sustained the injury by tripping over his feet and onto a large rock. To make matters worse, Buck had seen it all and JD had no doubt of the taunting he would receive. But despite all the injuries, the seven rounded up their opponents and it was then that a major error was discovered.  
  
Grady Pierce was gone. In all the confusion, he'd very quietly disappeared, alone, into the woods.   
  
Vin was up immediately when he realized the dreadful mistake, while the others secured what was left of the prisoners. He surveyed the site with the confidence of his experience as a tracker, but to no avail. It was too dark to follow any of the tracks that he could find. The only hope to cling to was that they could come back at first light, but Vin feared that Pierce would be long gone by then. He went back to tell the others immediately, although even he did look forward to telling Chris that Pierce was long gone.  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
The ride back to Four Corners was slow going for Ezra, Nathan, and Kathleen. Both men wanted to go as slow as possible so as not to hurt the woman further, but at the same time wanted to get her safely settled as soon as possible. Nathan was worried that she still had not woken up. The longer she stayed out, the greater the possibility of internal injuries. He looked over to Ezra, "Hey, Ezra, feel her head and make sure she hasn't gotten a fever."  
  
Ezra shifted in his saddle that he now shared with Kathleen, her body leaned forward on his horse's neck. He leaned over her to feel her forehead gently, "Cool as a cucumber, Mr. Jackson. Can you hazard a guess as to when she will be revived from her comatose state?"  
  
"I don't know, the sooner the better though."  
  
They continued on in silence for a while.  
  
Kathleen fought the darkness. It would have been easier to succumb to it but she knew she had to wake up if she wanted to get out of this barbarian's clutches. She feigned sleep while her mind worked on another strategy for escape. She knew she was on a horse, she assumed it was Magnolia even though it didn't seem like her. It didn't matter. She could roll of and fall to the ground, then run away. She considered what had happened last time. Then she figured that she didn't care. "If this criminal wants me," she thought to herself, "he'll just have to deal with me." She was definitely not in a cooperative mood. She steeled her mind, let herself drop from the horse, and was running away in an instant.  
  
It all happened so fast, Ezra didn't really understand what was going on. He saw her topple down from the horse and cursed himself for not catching her. But as he stopped the horse, she appeared to be running away. "She must be delirious." he thought as he dismounted. Nathan noticed the confusion and likewise gave chase. Ezra called out to her, "Miss Foley, please come back."   
  
She froze at the sound of his voice and turned slowly, "Oh. Mr. Standish, Mr. Jackson. Oh I'm so sorry. I thought you..." She couldn't continue. She was near tears, she was so relieved to know that she was away from that horrid man. Despite propriety, she ran back to the men and crying threw her arms around Ezra.   
  
Ezra was at a loss for what to do, but his hesitation had nothing to do with propriety. He badly wanted to hold her and make her feel safe. He had to settle for grasping her arms however, so as not to cause further pain to her back. He whispered in her ear reassuringly, "You are quite safe. I assure you."  
  
The embrace held for a few minutes; Ezra wanting to afford her all the security as was in his power to give and Kathleen quite willing to receive it. Nathan was uncomfortable though; torn between wanting to check her out and make sure she was okay and not wanting to intrude on what seemed to be a personal moment.  
  
Finally the embrace ended and Kathleen turned to the healer and trying to compose herself touched his arm, "Forgive me Mr. Jackson. I sincerely thank you for coming to my aid." She looked around for the first time saying, "Where are the others?"  
  
"They will be following soon. They stayed behind to apprehend your abductor. Mr. Larabee wanted us to remove you from that objectionable situation as soon as possible." Ezra answered.  
  
"How do you feel, Miss Foley?" Nathan asked.  
  
"Oh, I'm beat." she said tiredly, laughing at her own lame pun.  
  
The men smiled, glad that she hadn't seemed to be too changed despite her ordeal. "Well we best get you back to town and fixed up." Nathan said heading back over to the horses. They mounted up and rode back to town without further mishap.  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
Chris hadn't been this angry in a while. He couldn't understand how Grady Pierce had gotten away. He was mad at himself for not being more careful. "Slipped right through our fingers, dammit!" he whispered angrily.  
  
"Sorry Chris, we can come back tomorrow." Vin consoled even though they all knew he would certainly be long gone by then. Buck and JD leading five horses. "We found their mounts, Chris." JD called.  
  
"Some nice animals for some pretty lousy men." Buck said.  
  
"Yeah well let's head back to town and lock 'em up. I wanna make sure Katie's okay." Chris said walking over to the remains of the Pierce's. The rest of the men followed. "On your feet boys," Chris said kicking at their legs, "now."  
  
They got the Pierce's on their horses with relatively little trouble and quickly made their way back to town, all keeping a cautious eye on their prisoners. The entire ride back was silent except for an occasional complaint or remark from one Pierce or another. They were always shut up by a word from Chris. It was after midnight when the group finally got back to town.  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
Chris helped the others settle their prisoners in the jail before going to find Kathleen. He went over to Nathan's and opened the door quietly. She was in bed lying on her stomach, her back bandaged in white cloth. She slept soundlessly. Ezra sat beside her and looked up when he came in, "Nathan went to get some sleep. I told him I'd watch her if anything happened."  
  
"How is she?" Chris asked.  
  
"I can imagine she's felt better, but she's fine other than the injuries to her back."  
  
"She ever come to?"  
  
"She did. On our way back in fact. We hadn't the time to get to her horse, as I'm sure you are aware, so she had to ride back with me. Unbeknownst to me she awoke en route and before I knew what was happening slid off the horse and proceeded to run away, apparently assuming she was still being detained against her will."  
  
Chris laughed quietly, "That sounds about right."  
  
"Indeed." Ezra agreed. Then he looked at Chris seriously, "I assume that Mr. Pierce is situated in our jail?"  
  
This wiped the smile off of Chris' face. "Well after you left we got a bit of company. It seems that not only does Grady Pierce have five brothers, he has five enormous brothers who all showed up to lend him a hand."  
  
"How kind." Ezra interjected.  
  
"Yeah well, by the time we had them all under control, we realized that Grady disappeared."  
  
"What?!" Ezra cried flinching at the volume of his voice and they both looking over at the sleeping woman. She didn't stir so he asked again quietly, "What?"  
  
"Don't get me started. There was a brawl and he must have ducked out then. We got all the brothers, but not Grady. Vin'll try and track 'em in the morning, but he'll probably be long gone."  
  
"Or he might be very close by."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"I mean what if he comes back to finish what he began? He went back for that child who witnessed him murdering that one girl."  
  
"You may have a point. Sombody'll have to be with her at all times."  
  
"That should prove interesting as the lady in question hardly seems the type to appreciate a guard."  
  
"You have no idea. Listen I'm gonna go get some sleep okay?"  
  
"You don't want to remain here?"  
  
"Well maybe, but I want to go out and help Vin in the morning. If you want company though, the others are probably getting a drink in the saloon. I can send 'em up."  
  
"No thank you Mr. Larabee, I wouldn't want to disturb Miss. Foley's sleep."  
  
"Yeah you're probably right. I'll tell 'em she fine and sleeping. We'll see you in the morning, Ezra" Chris said and then he left as quietly as he came.  
  
Ezra settled back into the chair at Kathleen's bedside. It was quiet except for the sounds of her restful breathing. He pulled out the old and very tattered deck of cards from his vest pocket. He'd had these forever and couldn't even remember when he'd actually gotten them. They had just always been his. In his youth, when he was traded back and forth between his various homes, one constant was this deck of cards. Ezra remembered calling them "The Lonely Deck". However, that was only when he was young he reminded himself, a little embarrassed at the foolishness of naming a deck of cards. The monogram was appropriate though. They were never used for public games. These were his- a way to forget everything and pass the solitary hours of isolation. He shuffled now, quietly, his hands automatically performing the magnificent tricks with dexterity leaving his mind free and clear for contemplation. He though about the irony of the fact that a man who had never let anyone close to him could feel so close to a woman he'd met only a mere two days ago. Was it really just two days? How could so much happen in two days. The real question was going to be would he do anything about it. His first instinct was to forget about her, but his heart would have loved to marry her in a minute and live happily ever after. His ever present sense of reality kicked in though. Who says she wants to get married- much less to you? It's quite possible she hasn't given you a second thought. Well she did agree to dinner. Maybe she was just being polite. Maybe, Maybe not. Do you really want to risk it? Why put yourself out there? It came back to the same thing it always did. Ingrained in Ezra's mind were his mother's teachings. Among all the others such as "never run a deal on your own money" was "don't let anybody get close to you or they can learn your weaknesses and exploit them." Living by that tenet most of his life, he'd had companions of course, but nothing ever permanent. He put the cards down in his lap and pulled the diamond ring out of his jacket pocket. It was won long ago at the age of 19 and hung on to it in hopes of a future wife. He'd been devastated when he'd lost it to a certain slick one-legged gambler, but retrieved it after he discovered how that man had cheated him. He stared at the ring hard for a few moments. Then with a slight frown, replaced it in his pocket. He picked up the cards and continued to shuffle them thinking, "It'll never happen Ezra, get over it."  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
When Kathleen awoke it was late in the morning, almost noon. She tried to get her bearings and smiled to see Ezra next to her bed, "Mr. Standish have you been here all night?"  
  
"Yes, Miss Foley. I am quite accustomed to being awake throughout the night."  
  
"Well surely you can leave now. There's no need for you to waste the day to simply watch me sleep."  
  
He couldn't tell her that he could watch her sleep all day and he didn't want to tell her just yet that Grady Pierce was still on the loose. So he simply said, "I've not much else to do and Nathan wanted someone to stay with you in case you needed anything."  
  
"I'm fine. Ya'll can stop worrying about me. You must be hungry, I am a bit hungry myself. We never did have our dinner. Would you be persuaded to have lunch instead? If you'll deign to eat in this rustic haven of medicine."  
  
"That would suit me just fine, and if you'll excuse me, I'll secure us a meal, and be back before you can miss me."   
  
Ezra left Kathleen to her thoughts of how impossible that would be. He hesitated outside her door after he shut it though. He couldn't leave her unprotected. Luckily Nathan was climbing the steps to his clinic. "Impeccable timing Mr. Jackson."  
  
"Yeah?" Nathan asked warily. Lord only knew what that could mean.  
  
"I was just requested by your patient to go get some lunch for her."  
  
Nathan smiled, "She hungry? That's good. I'll set with her while you go."  
  
"She still hasn't said anything about the situation with Mr. Pierce, so I didn't mention it."  
  
"Okay Ezra." he called to the gambler's back as he opened the door.  
  
"Ezra! You haven't gone yet? Dammit, I said I was fine enough to stay by myself." Kathleen shouted from the confines of her sickroom.  
  
"I'm going now my little sugarplum." Ezra called back laughing as he made his way down the stairs.  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
The rest of the group, Chris, Vin, Buck, JD and Josiah, spent the better part of the day looking for Grady Pierce with no result. They went back to where he'd made camp, but there was still no sign of him. They searched for hours only to come up with nothing. It was as if he had simply disappeared. They finally decided to head back to town. Looking for Pierce was a waste of time. All they could do now was keep an eye out and hope for the best.  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
In the meantime, Ezra and Kathleen whiled away the entire afternoon. After lunch, they shared stories and played cards- interrupted only by Nathan's intermittent checkups (he'd spent most of his day in the jail guarding the prisoners). Kathleen intrigued Ezra with stories about a side of Chris that he'd never seen. Ezra told Kathleen about some of the seven's more interesting exploits. He was preparing to tell her about the time he'd pretended to be a lawyer in order to pry information out of a prisoner when a knock sounded.  
  
Ezra started a bit, but Kathleen unsuspectingly called out, "Come on in!"  
  
The door opened and in came the rest of the team to see how she was doing.  
  
"Well it's about time ya'll came to see me! I've been wanting to thank you so much for your help." she told them.  
  
"How are you feelin' Katie?" Chris asked.  
  
"Much better Chris, thank you." She responded, "Nathan is as good a doctor as any in New Orleans."  
  
Nathan smiled at the compliment, "Thank you ma'am, but I ain't no doctor."  
  
"You may not hold a degree sir, but you are definitely a doctor." Kathleen said.  
  
Then the room got quiet and Kathleen noticed that there was something obviously wrong. She bit the bullet, "What is going on gentlemen?"  
  
Chris hesitated, but realizing no one else was going to start, he spoke, "I don't know how much you remember about last night, but there's some bad news." He went on to explain everything about Grady's brothers and his disappearance.  
  
"So he's still out there?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah." Chris answered.  
  
"And ya'll think he might come back for me, hence the reason you," fixing her gaze on Ezra "didn't want me left alone all day."  
  
"Mea culpa." Ezra confessed.  
  
"So what happens now?" she asked.  
  
"What do you mean?" Chris replied.  
  
"I mean I don't want one body guard much less seven." she answered.  
  
"Look Katie, this guy's dangerous. He's killed a lot of people and wouldn't think twice before adding you to that list." Chris said more harshly than he intended.  
  
"I understand that Chris," she started but then her argument abruptly stopped. She did understand. The was a lunatic out there who might want to kill her. She sighed, "Okay but no longer than a couple of weeks. All right?"  
  
"We'll see." was Chris' answer.  
  
The room stayed somber still. Kathleen glanced back and forth between the men, "Oh cheer up will you? He's probably long gone by now. Oh! I need to talk to Mary Travis. I picked out a nice piece of property not too far from here and I want to purchase it as soon as possible."  
  
"I can go see if she's busy for you ma'am." JD volunteered.  
  
"Thank you JD"  
  
She chattered on excitedly about her plans until Mary came in with JD. Most of the men took this as an opportunity to excuse themselves. Chris and Ezra stayed behind both interested in her plans. In less than twenty minutes everything was settled. Mary would wire Mr. Sullivan, who owned the land, in the morning and give him Kathleen's offer. If all went well she would be able to start her house in a few days.   
  
"Well I have to go if you don't need anything else, Kathleen." Mary soon said rising, "Billy is with Mrs. Potter and I have to go get him."  
  
"I'll walk you home, Mary," Chris said and then turning to Ezra, "I'll be back and then you can go get some sleep. I'll take first watch."  
  
"You'll take first watch?" Kathleen asked mustering up as much indignation as she could, "My, isn't that flattering. You've swept me right off my feet dear cousin!"  
  
Ezra and Mary laughed and Chris glared at her, "You know what I mean."  
  
"I'm fine to watch her through the night Mr. Larabee." Ezra said still chuckling.  
  
"You haven't slept in over a day." Chris retorted.  
  
"I assure you I can go on." Ezra insisted.  
  
"But there's no need to now. You're going to get to sleep and if you don't I'll get Nathan to give you something to make you sleep." Chris threatened.  
  
Ezra considered this, "Well no that you mention it, I do feel a bit fatigued."  
  
Chris smiled, "I'll be back then." and he led Mary out the door.  
  
"Did you see that? How he jumped at the chance to be with her alone?" Kathleen asked Ezra with a gleam in her eye.  
  
"How your mind does wonder, Miss Foley. I saw him offer not "jump" as you say." Ezra countered.  
  
"Well who asked you anyway?" she said crossing her arms over her chest in annoyance.  
  
"You did. And I quote: 'Did you see that? How he jumped at the chance to be with her alone?' That is what you said, inviting my opinion of your observation." Ezra replied calmly.  
  
"I'm quite finished speaking with you know." She said closing her eyes and the conversation.  
  
She didn't see the smile on Ezra's face.  
  
**********************************************************  
  
Kathleen was a model patient for Nathan. He'd restricted her to bed, but she seldom complained and was for the most part extremely pleasant. She had constant company and her plans to keep her busy. Mr. Sullivan had been anxious to be rid of the land and as such had accepted her first offer, so now all that was left to do was find a builder. Time passed quickly between wires, conversations, card games, and Nathan's checkups.  
  
By lunchtime on the third day in bed, the novelty of the sick room had worn off. The builder, a Mr. Kelley, was arriving this afternoon and she wanted to be up to meet him. She looked over at her sentry who was casually lounged reading a book. She knew she would have to be good to get past him; fast too, because it was almost time for "the changing of the guard." Here goes nothing she told herself. "Mr. Standish?" she said in a honeyed tone.  
  
Ezra looked over his book to her quizzically and raised an eyebrow, "My dear?"  
  
"Well I was just considering that some fresh air would an incredible amount of good in aiding my recovery."  
  
"I was wondering how long you were going to be able to endure being the good little patient. I'll admit my own distaste for spending days on end in this medical facility; however if I aid in your liberation, I will no doubt find myself on the wrong side of the temper of Mr. Jackson and Mr. Larabee once again."  
  
She slumped back into her pillows with a huff, "Ooh! You coward. If you're not going to make yourself useful, then you might as well leave."  
  
"Now, now don't be bitter. Nathan says you're still not completely healed. How could I possibly forgive myself if you met with more severe injuries as a result of my letting you venture out before you were ready? That's hardly the action of a gentleman."  
  
"And keeping a woman captive is?" she countered.  
  
"Now be reasonable Miss Foley. You know very well that is not what is going on here."  
  
"Fine. You're just looking out for my best interests. How ungrateful I must seem to you. My apologies." She said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.  
  
As they stared each other down, JD walked in. Sensing the confrontation still lingering in the air, he didn't know quite what to say. He cleared his throat because he doubted whether they even realized he'd come in.  
  
The tense moment shattered by the sound, Kathleen now turned a bright smile on the young man, "Mr. Dunne! Might I assume you're here to relieve your associate here in guarding me?"  
  
"Yes ma'am." he said seriously.  
  
"I'm so glad. I've had just about enough of Mr. Standish's mundane and tiresome society for one morning. You'd be my absolute hero if you replaced his bothersome presence in this room. A most exasperating man!"  
  
Ezra only looked amused at this outburst (which only angered Kathleen more) and simultaneously chuckling and rising to leave said, "On that glorious commendation of my person, I will gratify you by removing my lamentable self from your sight. JD I entrust Miss Foley to your capable surveillance." He went to leave, but turned back around after opening the door, "On my part, dear madam, it has been a pleasure to be with you this morning."  
  
Kathleen gave him a nod and a tight-lipped smile.  
  
"Even if you do sometimes behave like a spoiled child." he continued and then quickly ducked out of the room shutting the door behind him.  
  
Kathleen's eye's opened wide in consternation and she threw a tin cup (the first thing her eyes came upon) at the door which produced a large bang before clattering to the floor.  
  
In another moment the door reopened and Ezra's smiling face appeared, "You see now? I was going to come back to give you the courtesy of the last word in this little tiff, but after all that commotion I've changed my mind."  
  
Kathleen said nothing, but threw one of her pillows at the man; which hit him square in the face. She smiled triumphantly, "You were saying?"  
  
Ezra picked up the pillow and tossed it to JD, "I was saying goodbye. My dear Miss Foley, goodbye." he said ceremoniously bowing, and then he turned and left.  
  
"Forgive the disturbance, JD. How are you today?" Kathleen said after a minute.  
  
"Fine ma'am, and yourself?" JD asked as he gave her back her pillow.  
  
"I'm perfectly well. A little tired though. I might rest a while."  
  
"Oh okay." and he settled down in the usual chair.  
  
Kathleen shut her eyes, but did not rest. She had to get out of here before she went crazy. She was going to need clothes and shoes, but knew JD wouldn't leave to get them. She looked around the room and smiled. There were an old pair of boots in the corner and she also saw Chris' duster draped over a chair. Now how would this work? "JD? Can I see those boots over there?"  
  
JD looked confusedly over to the place where she was pointing, "Those boots?"  
  
"Yes I'm just curious about something. Would you mind?"  
  
"No." and he retrieved them for her.  
  
She feigned an interest at seeing them for a while and then discarded them by the side of her bed. Then she waited a few more minutes. "JD? I need to fix my blankets, would you turn your back please?"  
  
"Yes ma'am." and he turned to face the wall.  
  
She went into action, throwing back the sheets. She thrust her feet into the shoes and threw the coat on, wincing only slightly- her back while still tender wasn't painful. "Okay JD I'm done."  
  
JD turned and his mouth dropped open, "What are you doing?"  
  
"I'm leaving." she said firmly.  
  
"But Nathan said..."  
  
"I know, but I'm feeling much better. I assure you." she walked with confidence out the door.  
  
JD didn't know what to do, but he knew she wasn't supposed to be alone. All he could do was follow her and hope no one noticed that they were missing. Yeah right!  
  
They crept down the stairs together. She turned into the street boldly, but soon shrank back pulling JD with her when she saw the men standing on the boardwalk down the street. "Dammit!" she swore.  
  
"What?" JD asked.  
  
"It's Chris, Ezra, and Nathan!" she complained.  
  
***********************************  
  
"Oh I shoulda known." Chris said suddenly.  
  
Ezra and Nathan looked at him confused. "Shoulda know what, Chris?" Nathan asked.  
  
"Duck into the saloon for a minute." Chris told them.  
  
The three men walked into the saloon, but Nathan still looked at their leader perplexed, "What's goin on Chris?"  
  
"Look. Wait for it." He said pointing out the window. "Just a minute."  
  
"What exactly are we supposed to be anticipating Mr. Larabee?" Ezra asked.  
  
"There! There it is. She broke out." Chris answered still pointing.  
  
Sure enough, there was Kathleen in Chris' duster and an old pair of boots walking quickly down the street toward her hotel. JD followed, his head constantly bobbing looking around.  
  
"I'll be damned," Ezra said, "she tried to escape earlier from me, but I wouldn't let her. I wonder how she got around our young Mr. Dunne."  
  
"Poor kid," Chris said shaking his head and smiling , "I don't think she left much room for argument. Do you really think she should stay in bed still, Nathan?"  
  
"I guess if she's well enough to be able to sneak out, she's okay to be up for a little while. She probably wouldn't listen anyway if we told her to get back in bed."  
  
"Nah, but it would be a lot of fun to catch 'em." Chris said with an evil smile.  
  
Ezra and Nathan smiled as they followed Chris to the hotel.  
  
************************************************************  
  
  
JD knocked quietly on the door again. "Miss Foley! I don't wanna be rude, but you gotta hurry. You're not supposed to be alone."  
  
"I'm fine JD. I'm in my own hotel room. I'll be out when I'm done."  
  
JD sighed, leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. He really didn't want to get in trouble with Chris, but what was he supposed to do? She was a grown adult and said she was well enough. "Oh boy." he whispered to himself.  
  
"Whatcha doin JD?" Chris said.  
  
JD gasped loudly and turned to see Chris, Nathan, and Ezra. "Hey fellas. I was just umm...I mean she said...well we just ah... What did you say?"  
  
"What are you doing John Dunne?" Chris repeated slowly and distinctly.  
  
"I'm guarding Miss. Foley of course." JD said hoping that that would be enough, "she wanted to come to her room for a while."  
  
Chris glared at him in his way, "What do you mean? Did I say you could let her out? What kind of man are you? You let a woman tell you what's what? I should shoot you right now for disobeying my orders." Chris took an intimidating step forward.  
  
JD looked horrified and said nothing. Ezra intervened, stepping in between the leader and the kid, "Mr. Larabee, be reasonable the hallway of a hotel is hardly the place for such an activity. Allow me to escort you to the alleyway before you shoot him."  
  
If JD looked bad before, he certainly looked worse at this speech looking fearfully back and forth between Ezra and Chris.   
  
Nathan cracked first at the sight of JD looking so pitifully. He laughed so hysterically that Chris and Ezra soon joined in. Chris clapped JD on the back, "I'm just kidding you kid!"  
  
"JD, what's all the commotion?" Katie asked as she stepped out of her room, her appearance restored to its usual condition. She was startled at the sight of the men but quickly regained her composure. "Hello gentlemen." she said casually.  
  
"You get lost Katie? I thought you were in the clinic." Chris said.  
  
"Well I suppose you thought wrong cousin." she countered, "My builder is coming today and I fully intend to meet him with dignity rather than like an invalid lying in a sick bed."  
  
"Only as long as you take it easy and rest if you start to feel tired." Nathan commanded.  
  
"Fine, fine, fine." she said and then she turned and left quickly before they could change their minds leaving JD to chase after her.   
  
******************************************  
  
The next two weeks passed rather uneventfully. Kathleen's house was nearly half finished and she was beginning to receive some of the furnishings that she'd ordered. She got along well with the seven since one of them was always a constant companion. She sat in the saloon for a little breakfast with her usual morning companions- Chris and Vin. She enjoyed this little morning ritual and the comfortable silence that accompanied it. This morning was different however and it was she that broke that silence. "Okay Chris, it has been two weeks. No more bodyguard with me every minute of the day."  
  
Chris sighed (Vin smiled at that he'd figured that this was going to come, but Chris didn't seem to notice.) "I don't know Katie," Chris said, "It hasn't really been that long."  
  
"Dammit, Chris!" she cried, but then adopted a much calmer tone, "How about this?7 I'm fine on my own while I'm here in town, but if I go out to the house for example, I promise to find someone to go with me. Hmm?"  
  
Chris thought for a minute and Katie held her breath until he answered. "Okay, but I want somebody with you at nights still for a while. Agreed?"  
  
"Certainly if you feel so inclined." she answered with a sweet smile. Then she said goodbye and left to enjoy her newfound freedom.  
  
******************************************  
  
Ezra sat at the jail idly thumbing through a magazine while he guarded the five Pierce's they did get. He didn't usually mind guard duty, it gave him time to think. "Where on earth is your brother concealing himself?" he silently asked the men. He ardently wished that Grady Pierce would try and come back. He wanted the bastard caught and hanged for his crimes. Mostly though, he wanted to beat the man- the way Grady had beaten her. Ezra didn't bother trying to fool himself anymore in regards to her. He knew he was clearly smitten with her. Somehow she had entranced him. He had no earthly idea how, but just the same it had happened. However, he also refused to harbor false hope. She was friendly and warm, to be sure and possibly did even consider him a favorite of the group, but that didn't also mean that she loved him.  
  
"We have gotten closer though." Ezra mused to himself. She was his most frequent companion of late. He'd taken her out to her home still in progress almost every day. He snickered as she yelled and bullied the big men who were building the place, say all the while that things were still going to slowly. She nosed into every aspect of the construction, sometimes with a little too much zeal. He'd even had to step in once in the beginning when she criticized some lumber that one of the men had brought. The oaf glared angrily at her and insisted that the wood was perfectly fine. Then the man, if you could call him a man, had the audacity to take a step toward her. That was when Ezra decided to interfere and stepped in between them resting his hand casually on his holster. He'd noticed as he moved that Kathleen had closed her eyes and braced for impact, probably thinking she'd gone too far. Had she honestly thought that he would allow the imbecile to strike her? But the incident ended without further mishap and more lumber ordered. She certainly did...  
  
He never finished that thought. His mind went black as he slipped into unconsciousness. He never saw nor heard his attacker.   
  
Grady Pierce smiled down at the crumpled form in the chair. "There's the first part." he whispered to the lifeless gambler. Then he looked to his brothers locked away in the cells, "I wish I could help you boys, but you must learn to be more careful, like me and not get caught. This time in jail will teach you that valuable lesson." Then Grady picked up Ezra's body and cautiously mad his way out of town, ignoring the protests of his brothers.  
  
**************************************  
  
"Anybody know where Ezra is?" Josiah asked when he neared the table in the Saloon where his friends sat.  
  
"He's at the jail guarding the Pierce's." Nathan answered.  
  
"No he isn't. I just came from there. I was supposed to take over for him, but he isn't there." Josiah replied.  
  
"Are the prisoners still there?" Chris asked anxiously.  
  
"Yeah, locked up good and tight, I'm going back there now." Josiah said as he left.  
  
"So where's Ezra?" Buck asked the table.  
  
**************************************  
  
Later that evening as the sun was beginning to set, the six started to get nervous about their still missing friend. Chris stalked over to the jail house for not the first time that day. Vin followed him- again- to keep an eye out. Nathan started when the door burst open. "Not again Chris," he thought to himself, "How many times can they tell you that they don't know anything." Chris' expression however, forbid him from voicing his opinion.  
  
"I'll take over Nathan." Chris said in a mock-friendly tone.  
  
"Sure, Chris." Nathan said and tossed the keys to him.  
  
Chris caught them out of the air and stared at them for a minute before going on. He called what he thought looked like the youngest or smallest of the group to step forward. He cuffed the man before taking him out of the cell while Vin kept his rifle trained on the others to prevent them from getting any ideas. Chris locked the cell door and cuffed the man he had retrieved to the bars of the cell wall. He slid a chair over to the man with an evil grin, "Have a seat."  
  
The man, whose name happened to be Stephen, sat and despite being quite larger than black-clad gunslinger before him, swallowed nervously.  
  
"Now I've been very patient so far," Chris began," but I'm starting to get annoyed with all of this. If you don't give me some answers, I'm liable to develop a nasty temper."  
  
Stephen looked to his brothers for support. They had decided after his betrayal still to protect their wayward brother.   
  
"Keep your mouth shut, Stephen!" Derek, the oldest, commanded.  
  
"Why don't you?" Vin growled back.  
  
Chris drew his gun and aimed at Stephen's knee, "I'm going to count to five. One..."  
  
"Derek?" Stephen cried to his brother terrifiedly.  
  
"Two..."Chris continued.  
  
"He wouldn't dare, Stephen." Derek instructed.  
  
"Three..." Chris counted.  
  
Vin silently urged the man to comply, knowing that his friend wasn't bluffing.  
  
"Four..." Chris said cocking his gun.  
  
The clicking sound of the gun brought Stephen from his fearful trance and his sense of self-preservation kicked in. Stephen stumbled out a confession, "It was Grady! Grady came in and took your friend. He clocked him upside the head, whispered something I couldn't hear, then he took him out of here and left us locked up in jail. I don't know where he was going. I swear."  
  
"Dammit Stephen!" Derek cursed.  
  
Chris' eyes went wide at the revelation, "Lock him back up, Vin. I'm goin' to find Katie and make sure she's okay."  
  
Vin watched as his friend stormed out of the jail, but he had a bad feeling about it.  
  
*******************************************  
  
Kathleen was at the livery preparing Magnolia for a ride out to her house. "We're simply going to go out to the house for a moment." she told her horse," I must get some papers I left there so I can order the glass for the windows ordered. No one will even miss us. Okay Mag's? Good." Then the two slipped out of town unnoticed.  
  
*******************************************  
  
As she rode up to her house, she frowned seeing a horse tied to one of the thin porch columns. "What on earth?" she thought to herself. Then she smiled when she recognized that it was Ezra's. She hopped off of Magnolia wondering why Ezra would be there and ran into the house calling his name. "Ezra where are you?" she called stepping into the front hall very confused. Then she froze in place.   
  
Before her stood Grady Pierce. He smiled maliciously, and at first she thought that she was hallucinating, but then he moved toward her.  
  
"You know, I've been watching you ever since the day you escaped from me." he told her, "It was tough too, with your seven avengers around you all the time. So I had to bide my time and be patient in doing so. Well now I have been rewarded. I don't have to risk my neck going back for you. You walked right into my open arms."  
  
"You are a pathetic man, you've nothing to do but follow a woman around? I feel sorry for you. You're going to hang and I'm leaving. Kill me if you want, but I'm leaving. I don't care to keep company with murderers." She turned to leave, but then her brain started working again and she turned back, "Where's Mr. Standish?"  
  
"Who?" Grady asked innocently.  
  
"You heard me." she said angrily.  
  
"Now that I have your attention, you're not going anywhere. I'm going to teach you the lesson that you still haven't learned. If you fail, I'll kill you; and if you pass, I'll let you go. Ready?"  
  
She remained defiantly silent.  
  
"I'll take that as a yes." He said grabbing her arm and leading her down the hall into a darkened room.  
  
It was dark, but she could hear a muffled groan. Whoever it was, was not happy to see them, and then it dawned on her. "Who's there?" she demanded of Pierce, but dreading the answer.  
  
"Let me light a lamp."  
  
Kathleen collapsed to the floor as soon as she made out the face. It was Ezra- her sick feeling confirmed. He sat in a chair in the middle of the room, gagged and bound to the chair. A tear ran down her cheek and her mind went blank; she stared into his eyes, those emerald eyes.   
  
Ezra stared back, with concern written all over his face. Inside he was livid, but he took care not to let any of that show on his face for her to see. He thought she fainted when she fell to the floor, but she only dropped to her knees, her beautiful face so scared. Ezra tried to appraise the situation, he had to figure a way to get them out of here. He wasn't sure how long he'd been abducted for-when he came back to consciousness he was here. He tried to estimate how long it would take the others to find them, but he really had no clue. There had to be something he could do for them.  
  
Grady waited a minute for all of this to sink in for both his captives, then sneered, "I thought you two knew each other. It's time for the lesson now." then he focused on Kathleen, "You still need to learn obedience and respect for authority, I see. Either your parents were lacking as primary caregivers, or you were too stubborn or stupid to learn. If there's one thing everyone must learn, it's obedience.  
  
"My parents were exemplary, and you are nothing to be obeyed or respected. Were you born this way? Or is all of this nonsense something you acquired later in life?"  
  
Ezra laughed behind his gag.  
  
Grady smiled, but maliciously, and grabbed Kathleen by the hair forcing her face close to his.   
  
Ezra struggled to get free, but to no avail.  
  
Pierce sneered at his vain efforts before turning back to Kathleen, "I'm sick of your behavior. Now shut up and listen- here's the lesson: if you are an obedient person, you'll be fine. If you follow the rules, you'll never get hurt. There is a natural order to life and that order must be obeyed at all times. Got it?"  
  
"Yes oh wise instructor. You know, you really have lost you mind. I mean you do realize that right? You realize that you are completely insane?"  
  
"You're still not getting it are you?" Grady asked, then slapped her across the cheek.  
  
Ezra tried again in vain to get free of his constraints and went off in a long and severe tirade that was completely incomprehensible to the only two people who could hear.  
  
Kathleen glared at Pierce, "Didn't you ever learn not to hit a lady? Or 'were your parents lacking as primary caregivers'."  
  
"All right lesson's over. Now you have to pass the test and if you do, I'll let you go." Grady said pulling a gun from his jacket and training it on her.  
  
Kathleen's eyes widened in fear and Ezra got very still and quiet.  
  
"Now," Grady instructed, "walk over to that table that holds Mr. Standish's things. Among them you will find his holster. Go and get his gun, but don't try anything- as much as I'm enjoying this, I won't hesitate to end it all if things aren't going to go my way.  
  
Kathleen reluctantly did as she was told and then turned questioningly to Pierce, "Now what?"  
  
"Kill your friend." Pierce replied too casually.  
  
"Are you completely insane, sir?" she asked.  
  
"Either you learn your lesson and kill him or I kill you both." Pierce answered.  
  
Kathleen looked down at Ezra's gun in her hands. Then she lifted her eyes to Ezra. How could she do it? His gaze held her in a trance for a moment. Then he nodded his head. "You want me to shoot you?" she asked.  
  
He nodded again.  
  
"Well that is absolutely not going to happen, Mr. Standish. I won't do it. I would not be able to live with myself." she said shaking her head.  
  
"You have five minutes to decide." Grady taunted.  
  
Her mind worked quickly , desperately trying to find a solution to this impossible situation that didn't end up in both of their deaths, but nothing came to her. In the end she decided that she would simply do nothing. She looked over at Pierce, then walked over to where Ezra sat and knelt down next to him. "I'm so sorry Mr. Standish. I humbly apologize for getting you into this deplorable situation."   
  
He mumbled something that she didn't understand so she moved to remove the gag.  
  
"Hey! Uh-uh." Grady called.  
  
"I want to hear what he has to say." she retorted testily.  
  
"Well don't try anything. I mean it."  
  
She removed the gag and Ezra spoke quietly. "You did nothing at all to be sorry for darlin'. This is all that monster's fault. Please just do as he asked."  
  
"There's no way."  
  
"You must, Miss Foley. There's no sense in both of us dying."  
  
"No! I'm not going to do it. How can I?"  
  
"Close your eyes." Ezra commanded.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Close you eyes." he repeated.  
  
"She did as she was told. "Now what?"  
  
"Now bring the gun straight up in front of you."  
  
She shook her head, crying softly.  
  
"Do it now. Come on." he said firmly, but not severely.  
  
She slowly brought it forward, squeezing her eyes closed tighter. The gun trembled in her shaking hands.  
  
"A little to the left, my dear. No, I'm sorry my left, your right and up a little," Ezra said guiding the gun to his heart, "Yes, that's fine. Right there. Now squeeze the trigger."  
  
"You can't expect me to do what you're telling me to do."  
  
"You must. Please, I can't let you die knowing there was a way I could have stopped it. Squeeze the trigger."  
  
"No."  
  
"Squeeze it."  
  
"No!"  
  
"Squeeze it!"  
  
"Oh God."  
  
"Squeeze it!" he finally yelled .  
  
The shot rang out too loud in quiet night.  
  
**************************************  
  
At first, time seemed to slow down. Kathleen dropped the gun screaming as she saw blood start to seep through Ezra's shirt. Then time sped up too fast for her shocked mind to comprehend. She saw Chris burst into the room, his eyes moving quickly around to take in the situation. He tackled Grady Pierce who was too shocked to move. The others came in behind Chris. Vin, Buck, and JD went over to Chris to help secure the murderer. Nathan and Josiah rushed to Ezra's aid. Nathan quickly cut the ropes that held him to the chair. Kathleen still clung to him and Josiah gently tried to pull her off of him, but she grew more hysterical as Ezra got paler and more of his blood left his body and seeped onto her clothes.   
  
"Chris," Josiah called, "I need some help over here."  
  
Chris looked up from the man he was about to throttle and over to his cousin. When he saw the state of her, he was by her side in a flash, "Come on Katie, it'll be okay." he whispered gently as he released Ezra from her white knuckled grip.  
  
For the first time, Kathleen looked away from Ezra over to Chris and seeing it was him hugged close to him deathly tight, "I killed him. Oh, Chris, I killed him. He's dying and I'm the one who murdered him."  
  
Chris sighed, really wanting to know what had happened but knowing he'd have to be patient and wait for her to come out of this shock she'd sunk into. He took up the job of trying to calm her down, "Nathan's here. He'll do what he can."  
  
*************************  
  
After cutting Ezra's jacket and shirt off, he hated to ruin another set of the man's clothes and knew Ezra would be annoyed at him- again; but it had to be done. Nathan released a sigh of relief at what he saw. The bullet had seemed to miss the heart, thankfully. He slipped carefully into the bullet-hole and remove the small piece of metal that had nearly killed the man, with surprisingly little trouble. He did what he could to close and bandage the injury. It seemed to Nathan not to be too bad, but one thing did worry him. Ezra had lost a lot of blood. He hadn't stirred at all during the time that Nathan was removing the bullet. Time would only tell. Then he turned to face the people he knew would be anxiously, but patiently waiting and watching. "We should get him back to town soon. He might develop a fever and I'll be able to take better care of him back in my rooms. He's lost a lot of blood, ya'll. I just don't know." he let his voice trail off not knowing what else to say.  
  
"Let's get our brother home then." Josiah said to the quiet room.  
  
They rode home slowly, Ezra with Josiah and Kathleen, still trembling and silent, with Chris. Chris had considered dragging Grady Pierce from his horse the whole way back to town, but Buck pointed out, in a southern accent remarkably similar to their gambler friend's that Ezra would say that that kind of behavior certainly qualified as uncouth. They tied Pierce to Ezra's mount, not wanting to spare the time to search for his original horse.   
  
********************************  
  
The next few days were a trial. Delirious Ezra did develop a fever and that worried everybody. Kathleen also worried everybody. She'd allowed Mary to help her clean up when they'd first come into town. Then she got into her bed and hadn't gotten up since. Mary was with her a lot of the time, but few words were ever spoken. Mary tried often to get her to eat a meal, but the best she could do was nowhere near an amount that was healthy. Mary was the only person Kathleen allowed into the room. Even Chris was refused entry. Often he waited outside the door for Mary to come out so he could ask about Kathleen, but that was as close as he ever got and the usual response was: "Still the same, Chris. I'm sorry."  
  
On the fourth day after their return, Ezra finally woke up with a clear head. He looked around weakly and saw Buck sitting in a chair, cleaning his gun, "Mr. Wilmington, might I trouble you for a glass of water? I'm quite parched." he said in a hoarse whisper.  
  
Buck looked up with a huge smile on his face, "Sure pard!" and he got the water and held the cup while his weakened friend drank. "You feelin better there hoss?" he asked.  
  
Ezra considered saying something sarcastic and verbose, but instead replied, "Almost as good as new." He closed his eyes for a moment, but they shot back open.  
  
Buck anticipated his question, "She's all right." he informed with a hint of a smirk.  
  
Ezra smiled and closed his eyes again, but they shot open for a second time.  
  
Again Buck spoke before Ezra, "We got him too."  
  
"Good."  
  
"I'm gonna go get Nathan. He'll want to see you and so will the others. You gonna be okay for a minute?"  
  
"I'd imagine so."  
  
******************************  
  
Buck raced over to the saloon to find the others and tell them the good news. Nathan raced back to his room and to the patient he'd worried about for four days.  
  
Mary watched the rush of Buck and Nathan from the stoop of the Clarion where she was sweeping, and assuming the worst, hurried over to Kathleen's room to be there for her when the bad news came.  
  
Mary knocked on the door softly. "It's Mary, Kathleen." she called. She waited until she heard the lock click. The door didn't open, so she opened it herself and on walking in, she saw Kathleen retreating back into her bed. Mary walked over to her usual chair and sat down.  
  
Kathleen looked over to her and stated flatly, "You've come to tell me he's dead."  
  
"No such thing," Mary replied, "I came to see how you were."  
  
"No, you think he's dead. What did you see?"  
  
Mary sighed and told her what she saw about Buck and Nathan.  
  
Kathleen nodded sadly, "That's it then. I'm officially a murderess."  
  
"Kathleen, will you tell me what happened that night?"  
  
"I killed Mr. Standish, shot him through the heart."  
  
"What really happened though?" Mary persisted.  
  
"Ask Mr. Pierce."  
  
"Kathleen." Mary said annoyedly  
  
"Fine," Kathleen said and she went on and quickly told the whole story. "And he kept yelling at me to squeeze the trigger and finally I did."  
  
Mary was appalled at the fact that a human being could be so cruel to another and was about to offer what comfort she could when there was a pounding on the door.   
  
"Katie open the door" Chris shouted.  
  
"This is it Mary. He's come to shoot me because I've killed one of his men. May God bless him for his kindness to remove me from my guilt." Katie said quietly.  
  
"Don't be silly. Chris isn't going to shoot you." Mary said incredulously.  
  
"Let him in."  
  
Mary was surprised, but she did as Kathleen asked.  
  
Chris came in smiling which surprised the two ladies. They stared at him dumbfounded, but Mary found her voice, "What's going on Chris?"  
  
He looked over to Kathleen, "Ezra's gonna be okay, Katie. He just woke up."  
  
"What?" Kathleen asked unbelieving.  
  
"You heard me. Now are you going to stop feeling sorry for yourself and go pay the man a visit like you should have done days ago?" Chris scolded.  
  
Kathleen glared at him for a minute, then she smiled and jumped out of bed. She quickly put on a pair of shoes, wrapped a long shawl around her nightgown, and ran out the room. She dashed over to the clinic ignoring the same stares she'd gotten when she'd sneaked out of the clinic two weeks ago wearing almost the same thing.  
  
*****************************************  
  
Ezra allowed Nathan's medical attentions for only a short time. After several minutes of this though, he calmly stated, "Mr. Jackson, I have borne with your medical poking and prodding long enough. Your attentiveness was necessary and greatly appreciated over the time that I was incapacitated. Now that I am quite lucid, however, I view them as unnecessary evils, sir. And I absolutely refuse to imbibe any more of your pungent elixirs."  
  
"Calm down Ezra," Nathan told his patient, but he wasn't really angry. The healer knew that the fact that Ezra was capable of stubbornly refusing his healing and that he was using his extensive vocabulary was proof that the southerner was indeed on the mend. "I'll leave you alone, for now," he continued, "but you do still need to rest. Your body's been working real hard to fight off that fever of yours."  
  
At that moment Kathleen burst in the room, breathless and disheveled. Ezra smiled when he saw her and she returned that smile. They remained entranced in that moment in time and Nathan slipped out unnoticed.  
  
Finally Ezra broke the silence, "Please sit down, my dear. I can't have you standing whilst I recline. Extremely ungentlmanly conduct."  
  
She moved to the chair next to his bed and took a deep breath before beginning, "Mr. Standish."  
  
"Wait. With all we've been through, I would certainly think it not at all inappropriate for you to call me Ezra."  
  
"Well, Ezra," she smiled nervously at using his given name for the first time, but then composed herself and continued, "I wanted to sincerely apologize for what happened. I know that there is nothing that excuses my atrocious behavior. I am here to beg your forgiveness."  
  
"Are you under the impression that I'm angry with you?" Ezra asked.  
  
"Well I shot you and I almost killed you. Mary said that Nathan said that the bullet only narrowly missed your heart. I probably wouldn't have if my hands hadn't been shaking so badly from fear."  
  
"And I shouldn't have yelled at you like I did. That must have only added to your fear and confusion. I must apologize for that moment."  
  
Kathleen was silently contemplative for a while. "I suppose we could go around in circles like this for quite some time."  
  
"Indeed." Ezra agreed smiling.  
  
"I hear you're feeling better." she said in an effort to change the subject.  
  
"Would you like to know what I've just recently heard."  
  
"What is that?"  
  
"Mr. Jackson says that you've been concealed away in your hotel room ever since we returned, that you saw no one except Mrs. Travis, and you malnourished yourself. At first I thought he was mistaken- a sensible woman like you would do no such thing. But now I see you, I see that these inhumanities to your person are confirmed. When was the last time you brushed your hair?"  
  
Kathleen's cheeks reddened when her hands flew up to her unkept hair.  
  
Ezra smiled, "Could it be that you couldn't bear the thought of losing me?"  
  
Kathleen's embarrassment quickly turned to annoyance and she accepted the gauntlet he laid down, "Don't flatter yourself Mr. Standish. I couldn't bear the thought of going to hell for killing a human being. The fact that it was you was the only thing that actually brought me some comfort. God could only bless me for my benevolence at removing you from this life thereby making the earth a more peaceful place.  
  
"Maybe my dear, but not nearly as interesting."  
  
Kathleen's face softened, "I think you are more right than even you know. Truce?"  
  
"Truce."  
  
"You know? I do still feel like I owe you something more though. You have come between me and an awful disaster, you know."  
  
"You could aid in my escape from this den of medical wonder."  
  
"No deal. You wouldn't help me get out when I was the one imprisoned."   
  
"Fair point, would you pay your penance then in the form of keeping an invalid company while he's bedridden?"  
  
"I'd imagine I could handle that. I'm not going anywhere anytime soon."  
  
Ezra smiled at that. Maybe given the time, he'd be able to make use of that ring after all. She was definitely worth the time spent trying.  
  
"Ezra! I said do you want to play cards or something? Did that bullet make it's way into your ears somehow? I'm confident I can find a deck somewhere in this town.   
  
"Well probably worth the time and effort." he thought laughing to himself. He sighed happily and thought for a moment, "No I have some with me." He reached over to the remnants of his clothing, that hung on the bedpost, for the ratty deck of cards that he knew would be in there and started shuffling as she pulled her chair closer to the bed.  
  
"Where did you get those cards? They are most extremely worn out. I can go get some new ones." Kathleen offered.  
  
"No I think it's appropriate that we play with these. They mark the end of a long journey I have made and the beginning of a new one."  
  
  
  
  
THE END  
  
  
So? Was it completely awful? Let me know. Thanks for reading my little story!! 


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